Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?
by butterfly collective
Summary: This Stand Alone FF takes place when Matt and C.J. are younger and are starting new chapters of their lives but what lies ahead? The characters are on loan and not sure if this will be part of a longer story.
1. Chapter 1

Lol, here's a writing exercise that turned into a really strange FF something or another. Don't know what it's really about but it takes place some years earlier.

* * *

_Girlfriends are a dime a dozen but best friends…_

That mantra ran through Matt's mind as he watched C.J. carry a bale of hay into the barn in front of him. From her wavy dark hair which framed her sassy face to her boot-clad feet and everything in between, she had clearly grown up into a woman to be reckoned with, and he remembered that every time they verbally sparred during a typical day on a working ranch. The young girl a part of him still remembered had grown into a fine looking woman.

He shook that image out of his head and told himself he needed to put his tool kit down and rush over to the ranch house and take another cold shower and not just because the morning had all too quickly turned into a hot and steam drenched afternoon. The kind that gripped the region into its grasp until the late afternoon monsoons arrived, turning old Snake Creek into a raging torrent. To match that inside his body every time he looked at his best friend these days since she had returned back to the ranch this summer after four years spent away in a university back in California where she had been awarded a full ride academic scholarship. The fierce nature of the monsoons were impressive but by nightfall, only a hint of rain remained coating the still air, beneath a pale shadow of moonlight and a carpet filled with twinkling stars. Matt only wished his libido faded so quickly when he crossed paths with her, trying to remember the young fresh faced girl he had remembered back in high school. They had spent most of the past four years apart, each returning to work the ranch when the other was out traveling around the world like when Matt had spent a summer in Europe and she had spent some summers clerking in law offices. This summer had been different because Matt's father had left him in charge of the ranch's operations while he expanded his oil well operations in the Gulf of Mexico and C.J.'s uncle had needed her to help him keep his hired hands in line. And now both of them arose with the sun to saddle up their horses and go straight to work until about the time the sun prepared to set each days, working alongside each other and trying to bridge the time they had spent apart.

When the sun finally set on the valley each day, Matt would call it quitting time and then head off to the Wrangler for a cold brew and to shoot some pool, maybe pick up a willing woman and take her to the motel for some diversion between the sheets to take off the edge of wanderlust that had grabbed him in recent months. His days of being his own boss were coming to an end soon enough as the date approached when he would leave the ranch for basic training and he didn't intend to waste any of his remaining free time before beginning his sentence in a few weeks in a lifestyle where he would be receiving orders instead of giving them.

Summer had been kinder than usual to this part of the state of Texas and the cattle that would be taken to market in the autumn would yield more profits to his family ranch to make up for the previous two years when drought had seized control of the valley in a death grip. Matt had a few weeks before he would be heading off to the military in September to begin a two year stint working behind the scenes in military intelligence with a double bachelor's degree in business and in information technology. He had graduated from the university last spring after taking the football team to victory in the Cotton Bowl. Major league teams had wanted to sign him up but he had turned away every scout that had approached him. His mind had been made up. He would do his stint in the military and then come back to get his MBA before running the family ranch full-time. That had been the plan made for him by his father since he had lain in a cradle but lately he felt the tug of adventurous spirit pull him away from the daily grind of ranching. More and more he found himself dreaming of the adventures that would take him away from this life. He had the money to do whatever he chose to do, because his family didn't just own and operate a successful cattle and horse ranch, they also had enough time to start a conglomerate that had hit the Fortune 100 several years ago after he had gone and sown a few oats.

As he picked his tool bag and walked off to patch up some worn fencing, Matt knew that his father had expectations that his only son would take over both businesses some day and after he sown his oats, he would do just that, marry a woman probably a debutante from a prominent family and raise the next generation of Texas businessmen and ranchers. He lined up a nail on some fresh wood and hammered it, thinking that would be exactly what he would do some years ahead. But for now, he made damn sure he kept himself busy with his chores and stuck to the present and left his day dreaming about what lay ahead to when he had free time.

* * *

C.J. talked gently to her favorite horse which happened to be a spirited dun stallion named Sun Devil who belonged to Matt's father though he rarely had time to ride or even visit him these days. The perfectly chiseled stud closed his eyes beneath the caress of her fingertips and swayed slightly on his feet, enjoying himself. Few people could approach the temperamental horse filled with championship cutting talent running through his veins but not only did he tolerate her presence, he thrived on her attention. Matt often teased her about having a way with the male sex and that there wasn't a male creature out there who she couldn't tame with her soft words and gentle touch. She had just laughed out loud at that while inside she knew that at least one male critter existed who remained out of her reach. Her best friend since she had moved to the ranch with her uncle when he had been hired as its foreman when she was much younger. She had grown up alongside Matt, his cousin and the ranch hands' kids and had worked alongside them on the ranch as hard as the grown men. He had watched her grow from a skinny freckled girl who had been all arms and legs to a grown woman whose shapely figure that it had taken a while to develop often caused the male population to go weak in the knees. Not that she had noticed as it took a while to figure out that she wasn't that little girl anymore. The one her uncle still viewed her as during the times when he hadn't been working her as hard as any hire. Being a woman had been something she had to grow into, and it took time away from the ranch to do that.

She looked in the mirror these days and didn't dislike the strong yet curvy woman who stared back at her with confident hazel eyes on a tanned face only marred by a scar just off of her eye from some barb wire that had broken the skin when she had been 14 and had been thrown by a horse. But sometimes she still felt like she didn't really know the woman in front of her, the one that felt like a stranger she had just begun to know.

Of course Matt had grown up as well into an impressive male specimen who soon attracted the attentions of the local women and they flocked around him. The rumor mill buzzed about his escapades while he worked his way through the female population of Wild Fork, a small dusty town of 2000 souls, some of whom lived there year-round. After dating a high school senior as a sophomore, Matt had taken what he had learned on quite a few test drives since that whirlwind relationship. A couple of his conquests had tried to hold onto the handsome young man but it proved easier to lasso a tornado than for one woman to keep him happy. Still a day didn't pass when a woman believed that with the right amount of attention, she could turn the confirmed bachelor around. In their dreams, C.J. thought, they should be more than a little appreciative to get their little slice of heaven and not worry about keeping him roped for too long.

His latest woman, Scarlett had kept him occupied for a month, a record in these parts and still had hopes of diverting his wandering eye away from other women who were only too happy to take him off her hands. C.J. rolled her eyes at the foolish notion held by Scarlett because she had just seen Delia step into his pickup truck after a few hours of shooting pool with him and she came back an hour later with her hair mussed up and a smile on her face as she waltzed right past Scarlett. A few minutes later, in walked Matt and Scarlett had looked at a couple misshapen buttons on his shirt and Delia's hair and had reached her own conclusions soon enough.

Just a split second after she had guessed the obvious, the two women had jumped at each other and had gotten in a catfight at the hot right in the middle of the bar over Matt. So much for their lifelong friendship that began when they started kindergarten. C.J. just thought the two women were crazy because she would never let some guy not even Matt come between her and her lifelong buddies Alexis and Dianna. In their case, it was a lot easier because both her friends had steady boyfriends which kept them busy and away from Wild Fork's resident stud. Still, she couldn't say that she was immune to what Matt could bottle up and sell, adding several more millions to his name, what woman in a hundred mile radius could be? But she knew he didn't want her in his bed or in the back of his pickup truck either for that matter, and besides, it was great enough having him as a best friend and not have to worry about ruining their friendship over some casual fling.

Not when he had the crème of Laredo County's beauty pageant crowd to choose from and she had the shortest career on that circuit of anyone in the county's history. She had been sent packing by the judges in her only competition after getting in a fist fight during the talent competition after Beverly had snickered about her not having parents. She figured she missed that crowd as much as it missed her and she had figured fairly early on anyway that if she weren't the prettiest girl in Wild Fork, she could sure as damn well be its smartest. And she had accomplished that feat handily being the first female resident of the township to head off to law school, which she would be in a few weeks, and not just any school but Harvard University.

She had noticed Matt today when she had been carrying the bale of hay into the barn and her knees had nearly betrayed her, weakening at the sight of his lean but muscular build shaped nicely by his typical uniform of his field shirt, worn jeans and an even more weathered pair of boots. But hey, she was enough of a woman to not be completely immune to his good looks not that it really meant anything except that she was a red blooded woman in a town filled with them.

Besides, she hadn't lacked for male attention in her own life. Her most serious had been Dylan, a ranch hand hired for the summer when she had turned 18. Six feet of raw muscle and a face that looked it had been cut from ice, framed with wavy dark hair and facial stubble which had scratched her face when he had kissed her for the first time. They had been hot and heavy enough during the summer months, keeping their relationship under wraps from her uncle who probably wouldn't have noticed anyway. Back then she thought that they had shared something special, but he had packed up one morning and had never returned, the cabin where they had spent a lot of time together stripped of even the memory of him. She never saw him again but then she had never seen her father again after he had been killed, so it hadn't been the first time a man had come and gone during her life. Only one man had been a constant, not that she had always fully appreciated his presence.

* * *

She had passed him on the way to the barn to saddle up her working mare, Karma to ride out to the far pasture to go meet up with several ranch hands who were checking on a small herd of steers that had a habit of wandering away from the rest of the group.

"Hiya C.J.," he said, easily.

"Back at you Houston," she said.

He turned his head and watched her purposeful walk and he continued on toward the paddock, rubbing his forehead. After he left the motel and drove Delia back to pick up her car at the Wrangler, he had headed back home and his own bed to crash for a couple of hours until he had to get up and start working. Delia had tried to get another date out of him but he had begged her off, saying he might be too busy preparing for basic training.

"Saw you take off in a rush last night," she said from behind him.

He turned around and there stood C.J., hands on her hips and a smile on her face.

"I thought you were getting your horse," he said.

"In a minute," she said, "I had to ask you something."

"What is it and I'll see if I can answer."

She tilted her head.

"You hung over or something," she said, "because you're going to need your wits about you when you handle old Ruckus."

He stared back at her.

"I can handle old Ruckus just fine," he said, "In fact he and I are old buddies and we're going to fix some fencing out on the north side."

"Just be sure he doesn't fix you," she said, heading back to the barn as his eyes followed her.

Damn she was sure being her sassy self this morning and he almost followed her to ask what was up with her this morning. But he just shook his head and moved to the paddock to take a better look at Ruckus to see if he'd be up to being under saddle all day. After all, C.J. had always been a pretty good reader of horse flesh.

C.J. saddled up Karma, who just stood there patiently as she had every morning that C.J. had been using her as her working horse. She liked the buckskin mare that had just the right combination of endurance and strength, sprinkled with a liberal dose of good sense. And the mare could run when she took off across the open sections of meadow, with C.J. leaning forward urging her on, most often when she had been by herself. But once in a blue moon, while out with Matt who dared her into racing against one of his favorite steeds. None of which could take the measure of her stout mare who descended straight back to a herd of mustangs which still had its bloodlines running around somewhere in Colorado

She took Karma out of the barn and mounted up, clucking to her and taking off across the ranch.

* * *

Matt hitched up Ruckus near the fence that needed to be repaired that sat underneath a crop of dogwood trees that provided some decent shade for the horse while he faced a day working directly under the blazing sun. He had headed up here to finish a patch up job he had begun two days earlier and wanted to get done so that he could focus on fixing up the cabin for the ranch hand that would be hired to replace him when he took off for his military stint. The cabins weren't anything but crude enclosures with a small kitchen and even smaller bathroom just off the main room which doubled as a living area and bedroom. The cabin needed some minor repairs and some paint here and there where it had been peeled off by the weather then it would be ready to inhabit.

Not that his father had actually hired the hand yet, as he had been busy flying across the country putting out a variety of fires springing up involving his conglomerate. Matt didn't think his legacy faced any serious jeopardy even with the recession not that he really cared, determined to make his own way in life without his daddy's help. His military stint would put him on the right path to do just that. He scratched his jaw wondering how long it would take C.J. and the new hand to get friendly, given that it hadn't taken her and Dylan that long to get something not long after the hand had been hired. If it had been him who had nearly walked in on them instead of Matt…well C.J. probably would be locked up in a convent somewhere if she had been his own father's daughter but maybe her uncle wouldn't notice what she had been up to when at the ranch. He didn't really seem to look at his niece except as another hired hand to work hard. He knew that his best friend knew that about her uncle, felt it keenly whenever he was around but had clearly found a way to come to terms with it as she had done with most anything life threw at her.

* * *

C.J. had ridden Karma into the meadow where she saw three steers munching on some sorry excuse for grass, while digging their hooves in the dirt. They didn't even notice when she rode up along side them, stopping only several feet away. Karma had been trained not to make sudden movements to spook the cattle and C.J. had more faith in the horse than she had in most people. You just couldn't beat a faithful horse with a good head of sense and that could run like the wind. She looked around her at the quiet emptiness, of just the scrawny trees and browning meadow. Where was the damn hands, and then she saw what passed for one sitting beneath one of the trees drinking something from a flask. Now if there was one thing she couldn't stand, was someone not pulling his weight on the ranch, one of the few qualities she picked up from her uncle. She dismounted from her horse and headed to confront him.

Matt's father had hired him on loan from another neighboring ranch and she had distrusted the leanly muscled cowboy with the hardened eyes and the stinky breath on sight. But she wasn't really in the position to say anything about it and they wouldn't listen to a woman anyway especially one foolish enough to waste time studying at university when she should be keeping some man happy.

"What the hell are you doing Clyde," she asked, walking right up to him and kicking him on the soles of his boots with one of her own. He blinked his eyes and had the sense to put his flask down while he got on his feet.

"Just waiting for you," he said, stepping closer to her, "My, you're a pretty filly aren't you when you get all riled up."

She ignored the come on and folded her arms.

"Where are the others?"

He looked around him.

"I don't see any others, do you?"

She sighed and started to turn to walk back to her horse and then felt him follow closely behind her, the stink of booze on his breath. She would really have to talk to Matt about this guy, and he would just have to break the news to his father that he hired another worthless hand.

That thought had just left her mind when she felt him grab her arm and spin her around.

"I just told you I didn't see any others," he repeated.

What she saw in his eyes almost made her take a step back but if she did that, she'd be back stepping her way off of a cliff that she lived on being the only woman mixed with a bunch of men who could mess with her at any time if she let them. She stiffened her back and stood her ground, after she shook his arm loose.

"Keep your hands off of me."

"Or what," the hand taunted, "There aint an inch on you that's not been touched by some guy. I heard all about you."

She blew a tendril of hair out of her face, keeping her face stone cold.

"I don't know what you think you heard and I don't care," she said, "What I do care is getting these steers taken care of and it's going to take at least two of us."

"You given orders girl?"

She took a step forward towards him, steeling herself.

"I guess I am," she said, "if that's what will get your old lazy boozing ass moving."

Cold fury burned in his eyes with something else, something that made her more than a bit uneasy, but she had to stand up to any of the hands who gave her a hard time or she couldn't carry her weight on the ranch.

"What I'd like is to get my hands on that lovely little ass of yours," Clyde said, "and teach you things that Dylan never got around to doin."

"What the hell are you talking about," she said, caught off guard by his statement.

Damn Dylan, she hadn't thought that he was one who advertised his exploits. But she had an even bigger problem now alone with a guy twice her size.

"I'm done talking bitch," he said, grabbing her around her waist and dragging her to the ground.

Shock hit her, like a cold wind and the next thing she knew he was sprawled on top of her. She tried to push him off of her but he grabbed her hand, holding them fast. Fear threatened to overwhelm her but she swallowed it back. Freeing one hand, she balled it into a fist and punched him in the face, and he responded by hitting her even harder with his fist which caused her to see stars flashing in front of her.

Just another day on the ranch, she thought, throwing another punch closer on target.

* * *

Matt nailed a piece of fencing, after stripping off some of the rotted wood. A hot breeze rustled through the trees and he enjoyed the quietness which surrounded him. He had finished up inside the cabin and had decided to replace some of the fence that surrounded it. Fortunately, there had been plenty of wood in the nearby shed and he had been able to make good use of it. The heat of the afternoon caused the sweat to bead quickly on his face and the back of his neck, trickling down his shirt. He wiped his forehead several times and reached for his bottle of water that he had filled from the tap. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the coolness inside his mouth, as his mind wandered towards the future.

The days spent taking care of the ranch were dwindling down to just several weeks and then he would be packed up and ready to go to Basic Training at Fort Ord for six weeks before heading off on his first classified assignment. He had no idea where that would be and there were a dozen or so hotspots around the world that could go up at any minute and most likely, he would be sent to one of them. But he had prepared himself to be ready for just about anything he would face on what he considered one of the greatest adventures of his life. He had been so ready to cut his ties from Wild Fork and his father's ranch for longer than he could remember when the wanderlust had first grabbed hold of him, beginning back when his uncle, Roy had told him stories about some of his own adventures which hadn't been classifed.

But damn it, there was one thing he would miss and that would be C.J. The thought of leaving her made his heart ache not that she wouldn't be heading off for an adventure of her own at one of the top law schools in the nation, to pursue her dream of being a top criminal attorney. Her life-long dream but he had wanted her to come work for him as his legal eagle when he got out of the military and tried to make his mark in the business world like his daddy had done. And looking ahead, he still had three years to change her mind and get her to work right alongside with him.

* * *

C.J. threw a couple of more good punches at the ranch hand. She tried to push him off of her but he kept pushing her down on the ground. Her eye smarted from the blow that he had delivered and she felt her strength begin to ebb.

Then she remembered that she hadn't come out to the pasture empty handed. She moved her hand slowly towards the small pouch around her waist. Slipping it inside, she pulled it out, a retractable knife that she carried to cut wiring and next thing Clyde knew, she had it held against his neck.

"One more move and I'll slice your jugular," she said, icily.

He stopped moving and his eyes grew a couple of sizes when he saw the knife. And then he saw her eyes and knew at that moment she wasn't bluffing.

"I'm not joking Clyde," she said, "I'll cut you from one end to the other and watch you bleed out in front of me."

He hesitated, and she felt him shift his weight off of her and stand up.

"Get off of me," she said, and he did just that.

She sighed, keeping an eye on him as she walked off to her horse, never taking her eyes off of him.

"I didn't mean any harm C.J.," he said, "You know I didn't. It's just that a pretty girl like yourself…"

She pointed the knife right at him.

"Get the hell off of this ranch," she said, "You leave right now and I won't tell on you."

He laughed.

"Who'd believe you," he said, "After the way you went after Dylan and seduced the pants right off of him and then there was Randy…"

Apparently Dylan wasn't the only one who liked to talk.

"Just get out of my sight and show up tomorrow with a reason for quitting…"

She reached Karma who seem unaffected by the scene and reached into her saddlebag. She knew just when Clyde lunged at her again and this time, when she swung around, she had a pistol in her hand. This time his eyes grew much larger.

"Like I just told you," she said, "Get the hell out of here."

He stood there.

"You wouldn't shoot me," he said, "You don't have the balls."

She aimed just over his shoulder and fired one shot that must have whizzed by his ear judging by his reaction.

"Don't need any…"

* * *

Matt's head shot up when he heard the single gunshot which sounded like it didn't come from that far away, the next pasture or two probably. He put down the plank of wood he had been attaching and ran to get his horse. He took off at a gallop, kicking up dust realizing that it had come from the area of the ranch where C.J. had ridden to deal with the errant steers.

He passed through a small grove of trees and then saw the two of them standing several yards apart and that's when he saw that the gun had belonged to C.J. and she had it aimed at what looked like one of the ranch hands. One that Matt hadn't trusted from the moment his father had hired him. Matt dismounted from his horse after he pulled it to a quick stop.

"What's going on here," he said, looking at the both of them.

Now rage on C.J.'s face had proven to be as rare as a spring snow storm in Texas but he saw it there now along with an angry bruise developing around one of her eyes. And then his own anger threatened to overflow. Clyde just looked at Matt and knew he was in serious trouble.

"Matt…it's not what it looks like…"

Matt locked his jaw and his eyes looked as deadly as a rattler's.

"What's it not supposed to look like," he asked, quietly.

"I….was just leaving," Clyde stuttered.

"Yes he was," C.J. agreed putting her gun back in the saddlebag.

Clyde started to creep away.

"You stop moving," he told Clyde.

The hand stopped in his tracks, knowing not to challenge him so Matt focused on C.J..

"What happened here," he asked, "Did he do anything…"

"I've got it under control," she said, without blinking an eye.

"Before or after he gave you that shiner?"

C.J. pursed her lips and looked over at Clyde.

"I gave better than I got Houston," she said, "It's not my first one, and it won't be my last."

He heard the tone of her voice and softened.

"That's going to hurt later," he said, "We'd better head back and get some ice on it."

She looked at him and then nodded.

"What about Clyde here?"

Matt shot him a deadly gaze.

"I'm not done with him yet," he said, "He's got two hours to get back and pack and get the hell off my ranch."

"Matt…"

He didn't budge.

"If I see you again Clyde, I'm going to kick the crap out of you and ship what's left to your next of kin."

Clyde's face paled and he swallowed noisily.

"I'll be gone before you know it."

"I'll make sure of that," Matt said, finished with him, "Now get your horse and get started on making yourself scarce."

C.J. looked over at Matt and knew that Clyde was getting off easy which was fine with her, not wanting her friend to do something rash like get himself arrested on assault charges and spend the weekend in the county lockup. But Clyde took the warning seriously and went to get his horse so Matt turned to C.J..

"Are you okay," he said, "Because I can still kick his ass."

She shook her head.

"I can take care of myself," she said, "and I was kicking the crap out of him."

He sized her up while she stood in front of him and smiled.

"I can see that," he said, "Come on, let's go take care of that eye."

She touched her eye gingerly, noticing that it hurt but her mind remained on other things.

"I'm going to kill Dylan," she muttered.

Matt looked at the murderous look in her hazel eyes and didn't think this was the right time to tell her the ranch hand had come back to Wild Forks and found a job at a nearby ranch. Especially while she still carried her gun.

"You do that, you won't get out of jail soon enough to go to law school," he reminded her, "He's not worth throwing all that you've worked for away."

She glowered, but nodded slowly.

"I don't think he was a nice guy," she said, "but I thought he could keep his mouth shut."

"About the two of you shacking up," Matt finished.

She looked at him with a start and then rolled her eyes.

"What, he told you too?"

Matt shook his head.

"Didn't have to," he said, "It was obvious he was going to you for some action a couple of summers ago."

She pulled his arm and looked at him, when he turned around.

"How do you know I wasn't going to him for some action?"

He sighed.

"Because no red blooded man is going to pass up a young woman who's willing and who doesn't know the difference between a good guy and a bad one."

Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean…Matlock?"

Damn, she only called him that when she was pretty ticked off at him. He tried to soften his approach.

"Just that you were young and not as wise as you are now," he said.

Her anger disappeared quickly and her mouth curved into the smile he liked much better.

"He wasn't great," she said, "Wasn't bad either."

Matt almost broke into a grin himself but stopped himself.

"I know what almost happened there…"

"You weren't there," she interrupted.

"Your 'wasn't bad' guy was handing you off to one of his friends C.J.," he said, "which makes him a not very nice guy."

She folded her arms looking at him.

"Isn't that what all of you do," she said, "Sleep with every woman in town and then when you're done with us, talk about us among the guys over a game of pool?"

Some men did that, but not Matt.

"Some of us do that," he said, carefully, "Some of us keep our mouths shut about certain things."

She rolled her eyes at him, ignoring the discomfort in one of them.

"Oh come off it Matt," she said, "You all do that and I'm not judging you, because god knows there's not much else to do in Wild Fork but we women get together and compare notes too."

Matt didn't doubt that. But her way of generalizing the men in the town and including him in the mix rankled him. Then when he thought back to his daydreaming the past few weeks, where she played a prominent role in that thinking, he parked his indignation and just looked at her.

"We'd better just get back to the ranch house before that eye swells shut," he said, "or you won't be much use on the ranch having no depth perception."

"Houston why are you so pushy," she said, "Not that it's not unlike you…You know I don't need your help."

"I know that," he said back to her, "You're more than capable of taking care of yourself but a grown man just almost got the better of you…if you hadn't been packing…"

"But I was," she interrupted, "and that's all I need to take care of myself. I have to be able to handle myself around these guys or I'm no good to my uncle or your father on his ranch."

"You let me worry about my father," Matt said.

"I just wish I could fight on the ground better," she mused, "That would help."

Matt wished she didn't have to fight period but he would rest easier knowing that she could protect herself if she had to do so.

"I could teach you some defense tactics," he offered.

"And where'd you pick those up," she said, "Bar fighting?"

He remained quiet.

"My father's friends in the Black Ops," he said, "They trained me a while back during those summers we spent camping."

She knew he could take care of himself, having seen him fight. Not that he had to very often, because he could talk himself out of almost every situation. Sometimes she thought he should be the one going to law school, thinking he would sound great inside a courtroom questioning witnesses and arguing in front of a judge or jury.

"I'll think about it," she said, finally as he slipped his arm around her shoulders and they headed back to their horses to head on back. And as they walked together, her head leaned slight against his shoulder and he let it rest there.

* * *

She put the bag of ice down.

"It feels much better really," she said.

He gave it a critical look as they sat on the porch in front of the main ranch house with some glasses of cold sweet tea between them.

"Swellings going down," he noted.

"That's great because I've got to get to my clerking gig in about an hour," she said, handing him the ice, "I've got to finish up the filing that Jack had me doing for those cases that are heading to arraignment next week."

Matt knew that C.J. had been working part-time during several afternoons and evenings a week for the local office of District Attorney Jack Prescow, who spent only a few days a month in a tiny town like Wild Fork but even that office had been staffed with people including the office manager who kept C.J. quite busy during her work hours.

"How's the job," he asked, wishing the tea he sipped were a beer but that would have to wait.

She made a face.

"I know I'm just clerking but I really hoped I would see inside a courtroom…"

"C.J. we're not the county seat out here," he pointed out.

"I know that," she said, "but the only time I even see Jack is when he drops by a few times a month and then he spends most of his time holed up on the phone in his office until some mysterious blonde woman drops by to take him on a really long lunch."

"His wife?"

She shook her head.

"Not if the woman in the photo in his wedding photo is still married to him."

"Jack's dad and mine go way back," Matt said, "They were fishing buddies back when this town used to be a nice place to raise a family."

"When was that," C.J. asked, "Must have been before I arrived to live with my uncle."

"Jack's father said if I ever needed a favor…"

C.J. furrowed her brow as she sipped her glass.

"I thought that was the county sheriff who grew up with your daddy that told you that," she said.

"I think it's both of them," Matt said, "There were some pretty tight knit circles back in the day."

C.J. frowned, her mind working.

"I heard there are some questionable things going on with Jack and his crowd," she said, "But I sure haven't seen anything. He promised me a better job when I graduate Harvard and I think I might take it."

His brows rose.

"I thought you weren't coming back here," he said.

She shrugged.

"My uncle can't take care of himself since my aunt died but I've got plenty of time to think about where I want to live and work after law school," she said, "Speaking of uncles, I heard yours got back from his global travels."

He nodded. Ever since his uncle had retired from whatever it had been that he had done for a living, he and his wife Flo had left the ranch to be run by employees while they took off twice a year to travel the world. Matt knew his uncle had probably traveled to various corners of the earth dozens of times during the years but he also knew that while traveling with his beloved wife, he saw it with fresh eyes.

"I wish he and Daddy would patch things up," Matt said.

C.J. heard the pain his voice and reached to stroke his hand, her features softening.

"It's up to them to work out between them," she said, "I'd like to think that someday they will but it's not your fault you know."

He knew that now but for years he had blamed himself because it had been his traumatic kidnapping as a young boy that had led to their estrangement when they had disagreed on how to handle it. Whether to pay the ransom or not. He had spent most of his childhood trying to recover from that life altering experience and trying to patch things up between the two most important people in his life, and it had been a third person with a streak of stubbornness who wouldn't be pushed away that had helped him with that.

He found himself reaching for her hand but she slipped it away from his grasp, getting up to take her glass inside the house.

* * *

Before heading to Jack's office, C.J. met Alexis in the corner café where they had hung out often enough when they were in high school. During the summer so far, they had both been so busy with their jobs that they were lucky if they could meet in town twice a week for lunch. Neither was all that hungry so they ordered sodas and settled in their corner booth to catch up. Alexis and Jeff had gotten into an argument over a fender bender he had gotten into when leaving the Wrangler after a pool game with Matt a couple of nights ago.

"He hid it for two days C.J.," Alexis said, "I guess I should be relieved that was his big secret, rather than that he cheated on me."

"He wouldn't do that," C.J. said, "Just make him pay for it and promise you it won't happen again."

Alexis considered that, and then nodded.

"Okay I think I'll try that," she said, "But if he does it again…"

"Then you can dump him and shop around for a better model."

Alexis shrugged.

"In this town," she said, "You have to take what you can get."

C.J. sipped her cola.

"The pickings are pretty slim aren't they?"

Alexis frowned.

"It's been a while hasn't it," she said sympathetically, "Speaking of which I haven't seen Matt around as much."

"He's been busy at the ranch getting things squared away before he has to report for basic with his cousin who's not back yet from his trip."

Alexis sighed.

"He's really doing it," she said, "I guess we're lucky we're not at war right now."

C.J. didn't even want to think about that part of his military commitment, how dangerous it would be for him and how much she would worry over the next two years until he had earned his discharge. At least his older cousin would be with him, at least through the six weeks of training they would receive before being sent to different corners of the country to receive more specialized instruction related to their assignments. They could email each other, maybe even talk by phone once in a while but once he got assigned to a post, it became classified and unless he was released on leave, like he had fallen off of the planet for quite a while.

Alexis sipped her drink with a deep sigh.

"So he's giving up carousing at the Wrangler," Alexis said, "It will be much quieter there with him not showing up so much. Fewer women pulling each other's hair over him and no need to keep stocking new pool cues that get broken over people's heads."

"I haven't noticed."

Alexis laughed.

"You wouldn't," she pointed out, "You never go to the Wrangler anymore but I think Scarlett's read the writing on the wall and has given up on Matt."

"She should have figured it out a long time ago," C.J. said, "but then the girl was never that smart."

"So what about you," Alexis prodded, "Why are you staying away from there these days?"

"I couldn't even get a guy to dance with me when I did go," C.J. said, "I don't know what the problem is with them but even when I ask, they beg off."

"Maybe someone is scaring them off," Alexis guessed.

C.J. rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Thanks a lot."

Alexis shook her head.

"I don't mean you," she said, "Maybe someone else?"

C.J. furrowed her brow, considering that piece of information.

"I don't know who would do something like that," she said.

Alexis snorted.

"Probably someone like Delia or Scarlett," she said, "Matt hasn't been returning their calls it sounds like and neither is too happy and they might be blaming you instead of admitting to themselves they can't hold onto him."

"Oh that's just typical Houston," C.J. said, "He's never interested in a woman for longer than a week. Two if they are lucky."

"You know those two since we were all in elementary together," she said, "They want to rope themselves a rich guy like Matt or his cousin so they'll be set for life when they should be saving their money to get the hell out of here."

C.J. chuckled.

"He's not that stupid," she said, "and he's nowhere near that committed to one woman. Not even one woman at a time."

Alexis sighed.

"He really is something to look at though, to look at not touch," she said, "Not that I'm considering it. Jeff's got his faults and all but he's a guy I can understand and Matt…"

"Is his own man who lives by his own set of rules," C.J. finished, "which has attracted and frustrated many a woman."

"Exactly but they do still come around."

C.J. sipped her cola again thoughtfully.

"Sometime I have to admit he…," she said, "I know it's crazy to be thinking about him like that. We practically grew up together but today for example at the barn, he just looked so damn great looking and I just wanted to..."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

"I think it's clear what you wanted to do with him," she said, "It's what most every girl in town and many of the older women want to do with him especially since he graduated from college a football hero."

C.J. nodded.

"I don't care about that," she said, "I think he was smart not to take the pro contract when he's got so much else he could do with his life."

"So why don't you and he…"

"That's just it," she said, "Even if we were tempted to take our relationship to a…different level," she said, "I'd just be another in his line of easy lays and that just might kill our friendship and I don't want that…especially since we're both leaving soon and I wouldn't want that between us. "

Alexis shrugged.

"You don't know that," she said, "Maybe you'd get past it. Even if you didn't, it might be better because then you'd have something to look back on. No thinking about what could have been…you'd know what it's like to go to bed with the hottest guy in town."

"I'm not curious enough about that to blow my friendship with him," C.J. said, "At least I don't think so but in a few weeks, we'll be separated for quite a while so it will be moot anyway."

"Then you might as well get a piece of him before he leaves," Alexis said, "Besides what else is there to do in Wild Fork during the summer?"

C.J. smiled.

"True," she said, "Not that I have much free time to think about anything much. And when I got back East to school, I'll be busier than I've ever been."

"But you'll have left here to start accomplishing your goal to become the best lawyer in Texas," Alexis said, "That's more than most of the women here even dream about doing."

C.J. heard the wistful tone in her friend's voice that she kept carefully hidden most of the time. Alexis had been born poor like she had become when her parents had both died close together. but in Alexis' case, her mother had been dumped by her alcoholic father and left running a decrypted beauty shop that barely brought in enough money to pay its own bills let alone those of Alexis and her mother's.

"You ever planning on opening that beauty shop in Abilene," C.J. asked.

Alexis looked doubtful as she sipped her tea.

"I've got to raise the overhead," she said, "even if Marley's aunt does give me a break on the rent on her building there so I'll be shoveling hash here for quite a while yet but I don't plan on being buried here but some place far away…"

C.J. nodded, feeling the same sentiment. Oh she loved the ranch and some of the people there and didn't mind the work most of the time but the world was much larger than the ranch or Wild Fork and it sat out there waiting for her. Soon enough, she would have this town where it belonged, in her rearview mirror.

C.J. had left her friend and the café behind her on that note and headed to her job. The paralegal, Phyllis, who manned the office when he was out had assigned C.J. to work on a project that had piqued her attention until she discovered she would be spending her hours mostly reorganizing the filing system. The job paid fairly well but didn't stretch her abilities behind performing clerical work and filing cases away where they'd be quickly forgotten.

* * *

"C.J.…"

She looked up and saw that Phyllis had placed another stack of files on her desk for her to alphabetize.

"Finish these by the end of your work shift."

C.J. nodded

"Got it," she said then continued with her filing until it had been time to return home. As far as gigs went, this one didn't live to thrill but it added money to her law school fund to supplement her partial scholarship from a women's organization for one of the most expensive legal educations in the country.

She picked up a file and flipped through it, and saw something in it that made her frown. She put that file aside and picked up several others.

She drove the truck back to the ranch after stopping at a drive-thru to say hi to Dianna's sister Suzy who worked the evening shift before going home to her husband of two months who worked at an auto repair shop and their toddler who was heading to Dallas for more medical testing on a heart condition next week. They caught up after she ordered her food which Suzy had wound up giving her on the house.

Heading back, C.J. focused on the road ahead of her but found her mind wandering to a few months ago when she would leave Wild Fork and head off to school a world away. Leaving behind everyone and everything she had ever know. Oh she had gone to the state university for four years and picked up two degrees in business and political science and that had been all the way in Berkeley. This time, she would be heading off to New England which might as well have been located in another galaxy in terms of how close and how similar it would be to life in a small forgotten town in Texas. And she hadn't decided if she would ever be returning after her graduation but figured she had three years to think about it.

She pulled into the parking area near the main barn and got out of the truck. Darkness, the kind that hit rural areas without any street lights getting in the way, had descended on the ranch and the animals had quieted down inside the barn and corral for the night. The air had cooled down after being blistered by the sun and a soft breeze rustled through the few trees near where she stood. She looked up at the main ranch house where Matt lived and saw the lights meaning that he had stayed home tonight. After looking at the house for a moment, she headed off to the barn to check in on Sun Devil.

The stallion had his head over the door as if he awaited her arrival. She talked to him softly and stroked his mane gently, before reaching for his neck. The muscles quivered beneath her touch, being lightning sensitive. She would miss him when she left for school, just like she would miss a lot of aspects of her life on a working ranch. Just like she would miss…she couldn't even say it just like she'd miss her best friend. Not that she would ever let him know it, especially how he had been acting lately around her. Like he had been on edge, or something about her irritated him.

She didn't hear his footsteps walking into the barn until he was practically right behind her.

"C.J., I see you got back," he said.

She turned around to face him.

"Yes I did," she said, "A few hours of filing and I was more than ready to come back to my first love…"

His brow rose.

"Oh you mean Sun Devil here," he said, "He used to be my Daddy's favorite horse…while he still spent time on the ranch."

She looked over at the stallion.

"He's beautiful."

"So are you."

She looked at him funny, waiting for the punch line of a joke.

"Houston are you feeling all right," she asked him, reaching for his forehead to test it for fever and he grasped her hand, holding it in his own.

"I'm feeling just fine. I'm not the one who got in a fist fight, at least not yet," he said, "How's the eye?"

"Feeling fine," she said, "I told Phyllis I had taken up boxing."

He chuckled at that.

"Houston, I think there's something not quite right in Jack's office."

He frowned.

"What do you mean?"

She tried to find the right words but she had not seen enough to put anything together that made sense. She told him because he just had a talent for figuring things out that other people often missed, and his eye for detail…too often was wasted on his social exploits. His relentless search for the truth on the other hand…reminded her of the cop her father had been up to his death.

"I don't know," she said, "I'm glad I'm leaving in a few weeks. What about you?"

He reached to stroke the mane of his daddy's horse.

"Most of the time I'm excited about it," he said, "But this was my home for so long and this is really the first time I ever felt like I'm leaving it."

"Yeah me too," she said, "But we both have a whole new world out there to explore and I'm looking forward to doing that. I guess I don't feel the same way about this town that you do. Life's pretty rough here sometimes and it'll be nice to be someplace else."

He looked up surprised at her admission but she had spent years being the only woman who had worked on the ranch in a herd of men and most of the time she never said anything about how it affected her. To pass muster with her uncle, she had to work twice as hard and do twice as much work in half the time as everyone around her and Clyde wasn't the man who tried to look for a weakness in which he could take advantage. To do that every day, she had to bury a huge part of her inside and project a tough exterior that she had built to survive in a world of men.

* * *

Matt watched her leave and then walked into the house to relax the evening away with some dinner and a beer. He had put in another long day on the ranch, and his muscles ached, in a way that a soak in warm bubbling water would soothe. He had checked to make sure that Clyde had really packed up and left the spread and to his relief, there had been no trace of him. That left the ranch short a hand but Matt knew that he could find another one to replace him, one with no connection to Dylan. That's the man whose clock he wanted to clean, for his role in what had happened to C.J. earlier that day. After a two year absence, the man had returned to Wild Forks and had found a job on a neighboring ranch. Matt had seen him at the Wrangler a time or two, drinking beer with two other men in the corner including one who looked like the one he had just sent packing.

Drinking didn't take the edge off so Matt picked up his keys and headed to the Wrangler to shoot some pool. As he pulled his truck out of its parking spot, he saw C.J. sitting near the corral and he drove towards the drive leading out to the roadway.

* * *

C.J. shook her head, watching him take off, knowing damn well where he was heading. To go shoot some pool, drink some shots and then pick a woman to take to the motel. Restlessness had taken hold of him in the past month and she had assumed that it had been because his days in Wild Fork would be numbered. When they had been cleaning tack in the barn one afternoon, she had asked him if going into the military scared him, the thought that he could be sent at any moment to go fight some war somewhere far away. Matt had just looked at her, and said nothing scared him, truth be told he had been itching to leave the area for a while and see what was out there. He then had raised his brow and asked her if she really wanted to go to that university so far away and she had snorted, and said damn straight she did, wanting to leave this town just like he did.

She definitely knew she didn't want to spend any time in Wild Fork if he weren't there with her. She just never admitted that to him, keeping it on top of a pile of other secrets she kept hidden from him. Hugging her arms around her chest, she continued on towards the house and headed inside the front door, pulling the screen door behind her.

Her uncle sat in his favorite chair, watching baseball. The plate next to him looked empty but the glass was full of Vodka. He barely looked up at her when she walked into the living room.

"You finished feeding the horses," he asked, his eyes still focused on the game.

"Course I did," she said, heading towards the kitchen knowing that his interest in her day had passed. She went to the refrigerator to get herself a beer and then served herself some of the leftover dinner. Her uncle would watch the game until he fell asleep in his chair, leaving her with a stack of dishes to wash and put away in the kitchen. She decided to get that done and behind her so that she could go to her room and read some books she had borrowed from work on discovery law, before hitting the sack and settling into some more dreaming about life away from Wild Forks and…Matt.

He settled in bed with Nadine, their bodies already slick from having come together as soon as he had kicked the motel door closed and they hit the bed.

"Oh I heard you're really fine," she sighed.

He arched his brow at her.

"At playing pool…or at other things," he said.

She laughed as if that were the funniest thing she ever heard.

"Oh definitely at other things," she said, as she began kissing his chest. Truth be told, he had raced off to the Wrangler to shoot some pool and pick up the first willing woman who was too busy to notice that while he was romping in the sack with her, he was thinking about someone else. Someone he could never have, who would push him away even at the suggestion.

"Matt…are you even here?"

He opened his eyes to see Nadine looking at him, perplexed. He sighed, and rolled over on his side.

"I'm right here with you," he said, "No one else in the room but us."

She pouted.

"Are you still into Delia," she asked.

He sighed, just wanting her to get on with it, so that he could forget about things that complicated his life.

"Delia and I aren't together anymore," Matt said, "I'm leaving in a few weeks and I won't be back for a while."

"You're really going into the army?"

He nodded.

"I've enlisted and I'm heading off to basic soon."

Nadine shook her head.

"Why can't you be happy here," she said, "Your daddy's loaded. You'll have more money than you'll ever need or want."

"There's more to life than money…"

Nadine didn't look like she bought that adage, folding her arms.

"Easy for you to say, born into wealth," she said, "You never had to worry about whether you were going to eat at night or had a roof over your head."

Matt knew that was true, but he also knew that Nadine hadn't had to worry about those things either. Her family wasn't wealthy, solidly middle class and maybe that didn't necessarily translate to financial stability during these difficult times but she hardly had to worry about being homeless. There weren't many wealthy families like Matt in a place like Wild Forks but there were a few, and everyone else felt like they were in the outside looking in at that lifestyle, which left Matt feeling sometimes like he lived inside a fish bowl.

"Nadine…"

Her face softened.

"Let's just forget about all this stupid stuff and focus on the here and now," she said, "and now, is having the greatest stud in town completely to my self."

He found his mind wandering to what she had just called him, a stud. Sure, he had bedded many young women and a couple older women in this town and the surrounding area but did that make him a stud? He tried to think back to whether or not any of his dalliances had been serious and had to go back to the girl he had taken to junior high prom, which even for him was a ways before he had really discovered women. Still, in his youth, the feelings had been stronger, more earnest than they had been since he had taken that fortuitous tumble in the back of that pickup truck that birthed his reputation. As he had recalled, that girl had broken his heart by her graduation, having hooked up with one of his friends. A summer of working day in and day out on the ranch had cured him and enabled him to move onto a series of less than serious relationships.

Before that, there had been that incredible crush he had on a teenage girl somewhat older than him, who had barely known he existed, patting him on the head as if he were an adoring puppy dog, before she left town to become a well known actress. A small part of him still wore his heart on his sleeve as far as he had been concerned and then at university, there had been the aspiring model who had been "Squeaky" to his "Rooster" before signing a whirlwind modeling contract that took her to Paris, Milan and other cosmopolitan cities around the globe.

These days, he kept his heart under wraps, his affairs with women short and moved from one to the next before he could settle down too comfortably with anyone of them. And thought too much about the one who kept him at a careful distance.

* * *

C.J. read three chapters on criminal discovery law while sprawled on her bed, until her eyes began to feel heavy and she absently put the book down beside her as she began to doze off, with the breeze coming in from the open window blowing across her face. She had tried to tell Matt about her suspicions about the firm where she had worked, but now chalked them up to her imagination. Surely Jack was nothing than what he appeared to be, an upstanding prosecutor with a very promising political future ahead of him. Besides, his family had been tight with Matt's family and it couldn't be any better than that. There had been whispers of long-time corruption in the sleepy town but no one could ever prove it was anything but a typical small town.

"Matt what the hell do you think you're doing," she said, looking up into his eyes.

He stopped kissing her and stroked the damp hair off of her face gently as he felt her hands on his waist, causing him to suck his breath in.

"If I have to explain it, I'm not doing it right…"

Oh he was most definitely doing it right, as if he hadn't walked inside the room and charmed her cotton blue dress right off of her, followed by... Not that she hadn't been able to do the same with one pair of worn jeans, a chambray shirt and his own underwear, stripping him naked…even his favorite pair of boots. She pulled him closer to her, so every inch of her skin had been possessed by his own…and why not, it was her dream wasn't it?

She woke up with a start, her hand on her chest like some silly woman with the vapors and saw that she was back alone in her bedroom and Matt no doubt was spending his night in the arms of another woman. She would have considered her dream pathetic if she truly believed it didn't mean anything at all. He wasn't the type of woman he liked to run around with and if she had any wishes otherwise, she could just keep them to herself. Why jeopardize a perfectly great friendship just to be the next woman checked off in his black book?

Matt drove back to the bar to pick up his jacket after he and Nadine had left the motel. When he entered the bar, he saw him standing by the juke box machine talking to a couple of other guys. He walked up to them. When he approached them, they turned around and looked at him.

"Who you looking at," one of them said.

"I'm looking at Dylan here," Matt said, "I have a few things to say to him about how he treats women."

Dylan turned towards him smirking.

"Oh, so you're the expert," he said, "I heard you're real smooth and can flash money around but what do you have to tell me?"

Matt grabbed him by the shirt.

"You stay away from her," he said.

Dylan's brows rose.

"Stay away from who," he said, "Oh you mean her. She's yesterday's fun…and to tell you the truth, she wasn't really much of that."

Matt's eyes flashed at him.

"Then it should be really easy to do what I tell you," he said, "And that goes for your friends, one of who just left town."

Dylan glared at him, as Matt tightened his hold on him.

"You think you're the law in this town," he said, "Just because you come from wealth but I'll do as I damn please."

"You stay away from C.J.," Matt said, "you won't have any problem with me. Understand?"

Dylan glared at him again, his jaw set but he finally nodded and Matt let him go, watching him stumble to the ground. But he knew the man would do as he told him and that would buy his best friend a little less grief until she left town on her way to a better life.

He looked at Dylan one last time and then turned and walked out of the Wrangler.

When he turned his truck in the driveway, he saw her standing by the corral looking at his mare, Starlight standing in the middle. He got out of the vehicle and walked to where she waited for him. Oh she had heard him coming but she still focused her attention on the horse. Matt knew how much she loved the four legged animals and that she trusted a good one more than most people. Something he shared with her.

"Penny for your thoughts," he drawled, standing next to her and resting his arms on the fence.

She still looked at the mare, which glistened white underneath the pale orange moonlight that radiated downward.

"I'm just thinking that I've been doing much of that," she said, "Too much worrying about things here I can't change and why should I, when I'm going away in just a few weeks?"

Why indeed, he agreed. And soon enough it would be time for him to leave as well and they both would have plenty else to think about in the newest chapters of their lives. He put his hands in his pockets.

"I've been doing some thinking," Matt said, "that maybe one weekend I'd just take off on a short road trip to have some fun and relaxation before I have to go to basic. "

That perked her interest and she gazed at him, her mahogany curls framing her face and her hazel eyes sparkling.

"Now that sounds like a plan" she said, "You've been working pretty hard here and deserve to have some fun. Send me a postcard, okay?"

He studied her carefully and reached for her hand, which was as callused as his own, but softer in all the ways it should be like the rest of her when she didn't try so hard to hide it from the world.

"Would you like to join me," he asked her and she thought she saw something akin to hope in his eyes tempered with skepticism, "I mean it, I'd really like it if you joined me."

She leaned backward after grabbing hold of the fencing and arching her back.

"Maybe," she said, "I'll think about it. It'd be nice to spend some time together before we both leave and won't be able to see each other for so long."

He nodded.

"Yeah it would be," he said, "We can just go driving and stop whenever we feel like it, and not have to answer to anyone else but ourselves."

She tilted her head.

"Are you sure you want someone like me going with you," she said, "No last fishing trip with the guys, or some last fling with one of the few of the women in this town left that you haven't charmed?"

He pretended to look offended.

"What and miss the opportunity to spend some quality time with my best friend?"

She smiled, and her eyes warmed, in the way that he liked and didn't see very often. He waited for her her answer and finally she nodded, touching his arm.

"I'd love to go with you," she said, "One last chance to spend together before we set off on our adventures."

He smiled back at her and draping his arm around her, walked her back to her uncle's house, as the ranch they both knew too well settled for the night around them. Trying not to think about how good she felt walking alongside him, her body brushing his own. The scent of lilacs and honey suckle that she favored, reaching him, causing his heart to skip a beat. Thinking that even as August 2001 came to a close and they both awaited new chapters in their lives, there was always the future...

_Girlfriends were a dime a dozen but best friends…were forever. _


	2. Chapter 2

Oooh boy, here's an addition to this whatever it's going to be. Thanks for reading and the feedback.

* * *

**Present Day **

C.J walked into the penthouse suite from the elevator after the doors had opened and couldn't believe the sight that greeted her. A flurry of activity and over a dozen people, including most who weren't familiar to her milled around the office.

Ahead of her she saw one very familiar face belonging to her long-time business partner and best friend, Matt who sat in his bubbling Jacuzzi which had been installed in the middle of the lobby which adjoined the area which housed the wet bar and a sofa which rested in front of their extensive network informational system. The one that had become the model to the rest of the investigative profession.

She stood in front of him just sitting in there, looking like he didn't have a stitch of clothing on while several attractive women fussed around him including one who patted makeup on his face.

"Just a little foundation Mr. Houston," the blonde said, "So you don't disappear underneath the bright light during the photo session."

C.J. searched her mind to try to figure out what was going on here and couldn't come up with a damn bit of information which would help clarify the confusing situation unfolding in front of her. She approached the hot tub and then crossed her arms.

"Houston, what the hell's going on here," she asked.

He smiled at her, putting his arms behind his head and looking up at her.

"Why C.J. you remember that segment that was going to air on _L.A. This Morning_ on our business…"

She sighed, putting down her things in the only unoccupied chair she could find.

"Oh that…"

"Yes that," he said, "They wanted to film some footage before the award ceremony tomorrow night."

She did remember that both of them were going to be honored by a crime victims' foundation for their work at helping to locate missing people, especially those that the police agencies hadn't the resources to find. Through his business conglomerate, Matt had developed a new form of software that would network law enforcement agencies better to each other and to organizations that focused on finding missing people so that they could have better luck locating these individuals to at least provide some form of closure to the families involve if they couldn't forge a more joyful reunion.

For all that work and their own tireless efforts with the agency, both Matt and C.J. would be given an award at the Hotel Buena Ventura in downtown, along with other people who engaged in similar work. She looked forward to it even though neither she nor Matt focused on the accolades that they received for doing work that they did for other reasons, reasons that only the two of them fully understood. When Matt had forgone his life as one of the wealthiest businessmen in the country, the stock market had reacted and many experts who consulted with the media had labeled him eccentric or worse, but he hadn't cared and had fully embraced the new and very challenging direction his life had taken both him and the woman he considered his right hand…woman.

Now that woman was looking at him very strangely as he sat in his hot tub with people scurrying around the office setting up cameras and lights.

"I'll be in my office," she told him pointedly.

"Oh C.J., after they film this part of the segment, they'll be doing an interview out on the couch and they have some questions to ask you."

She just sighed and continued on to where she could hole up inside her office and conduct her work and keep the madness where it belonged, outside of it. She looked up at Chris and the other secretaries who stood there with paperwork that needed to be signed, and appeared at a loss of what to do.

"Houston's got to sign some of these documents," Chris explained, "Murray's on his way back from New York and he faxed the merger papers with Dunkin-Forester Inc. ahead of him."

C.J. looked at the documents.

"Well he's going to be tied up here for a while," she said, "This is just crazy. We've got so much work here with the two mergers with Houston Enterprises and the caseload, the meeting with a couple of federal agencies…and then there's the meeting of the donors for the 911 memorial."

"That's quite a schedule," Chris said.

"I know," C.J. said, "and dropping this entertainment segment in the middle of it isn't helping."

Chris sighed.

"They actually wanted the other secretaries and I to sign releases to dish some dirt on the two of you," she said, shaking her head, "I think a couple of them were tempted."

"Not much to tell on my end," C.J. said, "Now Houston on the other hand…"

Chris whispered closer.

"They wanted a copy of his little black book," she said, "and they were willing to pay plenty for it."

C.J. sighed.

"I don't think anyone's actually ever seen one," she said, "Just another one of those urban legends…like the one where he convenes business in his hot tub…wearing only his favorite cowboy hat…better scratch that one off the list."

"It took a while to get used to when I first arrived here," Chris admitted, "though it's been quite the conversation at the water cooler."

"I'll bet…"

"Anyway, he's got to sign these papers pretty soon or Murray isn't going to be too happy," Chris warned.

"I'll handle it," C.J. promised, taking the documents from the grateful secretary and heading to her office.

* * *

The room wasn't large but stylishly furnished with photographs on the walls, mostly of her and her friends, including Matt. She sat back in her chair in front of a stack of files and her computer. Her phone was probably buried under there somewhere. Usually she kept her working surroundings neat and orderly but the past few weeks had been a tornado of activity. She and Matt had just returned to town from handling a missing child case which had ended happily for them in more ways than one, she thought with a smile.

Something underneath her pile of papers started ringing and she realized that she could check one item off of her growing list, which had been trying to figure out where her phone went.

"Hello…Simone," she said, leaning back in her hair to discuss the woman's case with her.

Not only had Simone been a client looking for her missing boyfriend but she had been a close friend of both Matt and C.J. since they had first moved to L.A. The case had ended with she and Matt going under cover on a cruise ship, he as a valet and she, as entertainment. They had discovered that Simone's boyfriend had been two-timing her with a wealthy beach boy who owned property on San Domingo, an island in a chain of them on the traveling itinerary of the cruise liner.

Simone had kicked the bum out and had moved onto meeting her true love in a night club on the Sunset strip and now had been married for a couple of years and had been thinking about relocating up to Northern California. C.J. knew that she would miss her friend if that turned out to be the case.

"What's up C.J.," Simone asked.

C.J. looked at her paperwork.

"A huge workload and a bunch of people running around outside the door," she said, "Houston's got that television crew down here filming a day in the life of, that kind of thing."

Simone laughed on her end.

"Never a dull moment…"

"Yeah well if this keeps up I might follow you and your husband up to Sonoma," C.J. said.

"Well you're certainly welcome," Simone said, "but I don't know how Matt would feel about that."

C.J. paused.

"He and I…we've been really busy since we got back from Las Vegas," she said, "Ever since that case turned out so well, it's been non-stop."

"The price of success…"

"I know it's great for the family and in a way, for us as well," she said, "but I want this office back."

"The crew will do its filming and then it will be done," Simone pointed out, "then you'll have some semblance of peace back."

C.J. hoped her friend was right about that because she felt a headache coming on and had wanted to head home earlier to rest up for another day's work before the awards ceremony tomorrow night.

"Do you have a date to that event tomorrow," Simone asked.

"Houston and I are going together," she said, "We're both in between relationships but he's put his broken engagement behind him and has moved on."

"Back into the swing of things, as they call it?"

"Maybe…"

She really didn't want to explain further. Suddenly a woman's head popped in her office after opening the door.

"What is it," C.J. asked the woman, really wishing she had knocked first.

"We need to mike you up for the interview," the woman said, then disappeared again.

C.J. looked at her phone and her workload.

"Listen Simone I'm being called for a damn interview session," she said, "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, now be good C.J."

After she hung up the phone, C.J. gritted her teeth, sorely tempted to not…be so good.

* * *

As soon as she sank on the couch, a team of people armed with power puffs and make up brushes descended on her, fixing her up for the filming session. Not that she didn't have enough makeup already on her face, but they layered more on top of that. Matt already sat on the couch, having changed into his jeans and chambray shirt, all cowboy down to his worn boots. He looked like he was about to head off on a cattle drive or ride a busting bronco, activities he had enjoyed on that ranch where he used to live, a helicopter's ride from the office. He had moved out of there and purchased his current digs, a luxurious beach house in Malibu to cut down his daily commute and to remain more tapped into L.A.'s extensive network of wealthy folks including a barrage of pretty young ladies.

His engagement had stopped all that but after Elizabeth and he had called it off several months ago, he had slowly begun to pick up where he left off. Returning phone calls and coming into work, with that spring back in his step. The last girlfriend had been a news anchor that had taken the job position vacated by C.J.'s murderous ex-boyfriend Robert Tyler who instead of giving nightly reports on the local news was working inside the print shop of one of the state's penal institutions. She knew that because every once in awhile she still received these little postcards from him that had originated from his work assignment. After she notified the prison warden that she didn't welcome such correspondence, Robert's printing privileges were somewhat curtailed.

She had broken it off with another guy, Quinn who had become too much of a control freak and she had found that what had charmed her initially when she had met him had become stifling and even more than a bit unnerving over time. When she came back from Las Vegas, he had met her at her house with the smell of alcohol on his breath and picked a fight over her traveling and staying in a hotel with Matt. After he had insinuated that they had shared a hotel room with each other, she had showed him the door. She had to slam it on his face to get him to go away, but had tossed and turned all night in her bed wondering if there had been anything that she had done or said or thought that could have triggered his jealous reaction.

She finally had drifted off to sleep and had woken up, certain that of course there hadn't been any reason at all. The guy just had been unreasonably insecure about her interactions with her male friends. Her familial relationship with Matt's uncle Roy would probably have set Quinn off. Besides Matt, Roy had been the closest thing to family she had since her parents had died, leaving her to be raised by the uncle who never really wanted her.

C.J. scowled as the makeup artist patted her face one last time and then the lights turned on, brightly in her face. Matt looked over at her with a rueful smile.

"Ready for this?

Before she could retort something back, the host of the segment approached them with a smile on her face, despite having just engaged in a loud argument with her sound person that was mediated by a younger harried woman who looked like her personal assistant.

"Good morning, this is _L.A. This Morning_ and I'm here with the two names behind L.A.'s hottest investigation firm, former business tycoon Matt Houstan and his associate and attorney C.J. Parsons."

Both of them smiled graciously for the camera although C.J.'s mind scrambled for an escape route.

"And they've been quite busy lately since the unveiling of that computer technology by Houston Enterprises which could redefine investigative practices across the country…"

Matt and C.J. weathered most of the interview that had to do with the creation of their investigative firm and its upward trajectory into becoming the success it was today and avoided any potential minefields. But then the correspondent moved onto their active social lives since they had moved to L.A.

C.J. sighed and ran her hand through her hair, leading some hair stylist to rush up during the transitional break to touch up her style. Then they went back to filming the interview, with the woman sitting companionably between C.J and Matt as if she were almost family and this interview was taking place in a casual setting. What a crock of...C.J. thought to herself.

"So who's the best that you've ever had…"

Both of them looked at the host, barely hiding the shock on their faces. But the woman smiled at Matt which left C.J. off the hook at least for a little while.

"Excuse me," Matt responded.

The host continued.

"Surely, a man of your rumored…dating habits has crossed paths with many if not most of Hollywood's A-list beauties to provide an informed opinion."

"Actually I haven't gone out with many people in the entertainment industry," Matt explained, "They pretty much stick to their own crowd."

C.J. just looked at Matt, good answer but the correspondent recovered quickly enough.

"Okay, so let's skip the actresses," she said, "What do you look for in a woman?"

Matt looked over at C.J. but she just arched a brow at him. He tried to look like he was putting some thought into his answer.

"Well Cindy…"

"Crystal," the woman corrected.

"Crystal…I look at the entire…package," he started, "I'm very much drawn to women that are…intelligent, well versed in what's going on with the world and can hold their own in that world."

Crystal just looked at him, nonplussed.

"Oh come off of it Matlock, can I call you that, all the women who are photographed on your arm at events and…other venues are gorgeous, knock them dead looking women, well endowed…"

"Crystal," Matt interrupted, "I like attractive women like anyone else but if it's only skin deep then I'm really not interested."

"Oh sure you are," Crystal goaded, "What about that model at the dedication of the statue downtown last month…she had a PhD?"

"Well no but…"

C.J. just shook her head, thinking that they really didn't have her friend figured out at all. Sure, Crystal had nailed it right on the head that Matt appreciated beautiful women but then what he had been trying to tell her had been true as well. He liked them smart, and he liked women who could roll with whatever life threw them and that could laugh too.

"So those rumors that you were in the locker room with a bunch of football cheerleaders lately…"

Matt shook his head. Okay, so maybe that story had some life to it when he had been a varsity football star at Rice University but he barely had time to attend a football game anymore let alone cavort with a any towel clad cheerleaders. Maybe Crystal had gotten a hold of one of his yearbooks…

C.J. had decided enough was enough.

"Look give the guy a break," she said, "Sure he likes attractive women like most men but he's gone out with plenty of intelligent women including an astrophysicist not too long ago and..."

A woman that Matt had bumped into after they had met when he had been working on getting his MBA from a nighttime program, at a university where she had been conducting research in a neighboring business. She had lasted until she received a fellowship in Paris and had relocated there and long-distance relationships, well they just didn't work too well for Matt.

Crystal turned her attention on C.J. and she almost wish she had kept her mouth shut.

"What about you," she said, "Who's the guy that knocked your socks off so to speak?"

C.J. remained mum. She didn't kiss and tell after all. Her silence didn't satisfy the persistent journalist.

"You can tell L.A. Ms Parsons, after all, we've already talked to several of your ex boyfriends including the one in prison."

Her mouth dropped at that. What the hell was this anyway, and why would it matter what Robert thought of their relationship? The guy was doing 30 to life locked up away from society, exactly where he belonged.

"How dare you go digging into my background," she said, anger filling her voice, "What kind of program is this anyway?"

Crystal didn't miss a beat.

"Rated in the top five in the local market," she said, "and climbing…because we get the nitty- gritty about our subjects so just spell it, who lit your fire?"

C.J. looked at Matt biting her lip and he just raised his brows.

"I'm taking that one to the grave, sorry," she said, finally.

After all, she knew the answer to the question but it was none of Crystal's business and the rest of L.A. could certainly survive not knowing. Even the man who had been involved probably didn't know the depths of her reaction to him back then and how it had changed her life. No, he almost certainly didn't know, as that interlude had been back in the past where it belonged. She rose from the couch.

"C.J.," Matt said, his eyes following her.

She turned around to face him.

"No, I'm finished here and I've got work to do," she said, "After all, we've got a business to run."

* * *

Matt knew that she left the interview angry and he really couldn't blame her as she had tend to view her affairs as private and in fact, greater L.A. didn't know nearly as much about her background as the people thought they knew about his own.

Crystal turned to Matt again, fidgeting with microphone to get it ready.

"Okay so what was your answer to that question again?"

* * *

Later, Matt wandered out to the helipad where she had been standing watching the sun set on yet another busy day in the metropolis that both lived and worked in, having left their years in Texas behind them. He saw her, glass in hand, looking out over the active city towards the horizon which was highlighted with varying shades of color, red and gold in a sea of blue.

He had poured himself a Scotch, believing after all that nonsense inside his office that he really needed one. The interview had ended and the television crew had packed up its equipment and left as if it had never been there. Business once again returning to normal inside the suite, meaning that right now, he had ducked away from his formidable pool of secretaries to hide away from the barrage of paperwork. She turned around to look at him and he took one of his hands and stroked the hair off of her face.

"Thank you for putting up with all that."

She tilted her head, having enjoyed his caress against her skin, which had tingled in response.

"I know it's good for our business and means we can help more people but I just don't enjoy that side of what we do."

Neither did he, really especially when the media probed beyond his professional world into his personal one, feeding the myth of him as this relentless playboy who wined, dined and bedded half of the eligible women of his social circle in the City of Angels and a few of the ineligible ones. Sure, he had his fun with the ladies but he came up for air now and then and every once in a while, he fell deeply in love and had his heart broken just like anyone else.

But at the moment, only one woman had that kind of power over him. And he stepped closer to her, taking her in his arms.

"Houston…"

When his lips captured hers, all thoughts of protest slipped away from her and her own arms found their way around him, drawing him closer to her. They held that pose for a long moment, forgetting about everything else around them but what was in front of them. Finally they separated, both waiting for their breathing to slow down, their heart rates to return to normal.

"I really enjoyed that," he said, stroking her hair again.

She nodded and welcomed his touch.

"So have you given any thought to where you might want to go?"

"What…," she said, clearly distracted.

"On our first date," he said, "You know after we sit through half of that ceremony tomorrow night and then sneak out the back and have the rest of the night to ourselves."

"Well, I…"

"Paris or Zurich," he tossed up.

She arched a brow at him.

"If we pick either, we'll be talking about brunch or maybe lunch."

He shrugged.

"Works for me," he said, "I'm really looking forward to this."

She sighed; taking in the enthusiasm in his eyes, the way his face lit up and felt heady knowing it was for her.

"Me too…but Houston I meant it when I said I want to take it slow, okay?"

He nodded, rubbing her arms reassuring her.

"That's more than okay," he said, "As long as we take it together…it's going to work out just fine, I know it."

She had struggled with that issue more than he had, before she had made the decision after that last case to accept his proposal to change their relationship, to embrace the risks along with what she knew would certainly be joyful dividends.

"I don't know," she said, smiling, "Both places sound so wonderful and of course there's the company to consider…"

"I'll have the Lear Jet ready to go and file two flight plans until a couple hours before we leave," he said, "So that will give you more time to choose our destination."

Instead of saying anything, she drew him in her embrace and they kissed again…not hearing the footsteps behind him. Multiple pairs of hard heeled shoes clicking against the tarmac surface. Then they heard a voice that sounded a bit ill at ease.

"Excuse me," a male voice said and something in it made both Matt and C.J. turn around.

Two men in dark suits stood before them.

"Are you Matt Houston and C.J. Parsons?"

The two of them looked at each other and nodded.

"Then this warrant is for you," he said, pulling out an envelope and handing the paper inside of it to Matt.

His eyes widened when he read it and just looked at it.

"What's this all about?"

The man's expression didn't change.

"We're members of the Laredo County District Attorney's office and this warrant is for Ms Parsons' arrest on first degree murder charges."


	3. Chapter 3

Another update of this ff story. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for the feedback!

* * *

C.J. woke up every morning before the sun did and jumped into a warm shower to get going, even before she could lay her hands on a cup of dark coffee. After fixing her own breakfast of scrambled eggs and either grits or roasted potatoes, she left the house to head off to the barn to saddle up Karma, often taking a thermos of iced tea and a couple of sandwiches to get her through the day. The days of her uncle rising up before her ended when he had fallen off his horse and then got stepped on by it, breaking his leg. It never grew back quite straight, leaving him with a limp and an addiction to pain medication that had lingered even after a trip to a rehab center. He might get up later in the morning to get to work but until then, he slept dead to the world and his workload was left on her shoulders. Not that she couldn't handle it, as long as she worked as hard as she did then her uncle would keep his job and their house. As for what would happen when she left for law school, Matt had already promised her that he planned to hire several more ranch hands on his father's behalf.

After spending time with Matt at the corral last night, she had gone back into the house and found her uncle passed out in his chair in front of the television. She had picked up the worn blanket at the end of the couch and draped it over his form while he slept, before heading to her own bed ready for sleep.

Now this morning, she had grabbed her things and had gone out to fetch her horse, passing Matt on the way to the barn. He had been dressed in his usual working outfit and looked none the worse for wear after his night carousing at the Wranglers, working on some worn fencing near the corral where they had stood the night before. She had pondered his invitation to go road tripping with him before they both set off in separate directions to begin the next chapters of their lives and looking at him again, she didn't see how she could pass it up. After all, it would be quite a while before their paths crossed again and maybe he needed to get away from this place as much as she did and kick back for a while before life got serious again.

As if he read her mind, he looked up at her and smiled.

"Good morning C.J."

She walked over to him, slipping her work gloves on her hands.

"Back at you," she said, "You sticking close to home base today?"

"I just got some fencing to patch up here and then I'm going to be finishing some repairs on that cabin," he said.

"The one where the new hand's staying," C.J. said, "That is, when you and your father hire him."

Matt rested against the fencing.

"Daddy's out of the country," he said, "So he left it up to me and I've got a couple guys coming in tomorrow for the job."

She nodded.

"And I'll need something from you in writing that you promise not to seduce the one I do hire at least not the first week."

Now she frowned at him and put her hands on her hips.

"Houston, are you going to hold that against me forever," she said, "As if you're one to talk, considering how you've kept yourself busy since you got back from Rice."

He shrugged.

"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration," he said.

She laughed.

"How much of one," she said, "How many women are there left in Wild Fork that haven't enjoyed your better side?"

He just threw her that look and returned to the fencing.

"You got back pretty late last night," C.J. pointed out, "and you did look a bit tuckered out. Who was your favor of the week? If we wait long enough, she'll show up here."

"Yeah well, I ran into a couple of old friends at the Wranglers before I left," Matt said, scratching his jaw, "That went pretty well."

She raised her brows at him but he didn't have anything else to say about that so she decided to just go ahead with her busy day.

"How's your eye," he asked.

She touched it and decided it had reached the point where it looked worse than it felt.

"Better, the ice yesterday helped thanks."

He nodded.

"Any time," he said, "We'll just have to make sure there isn't a next time."

She just stared at him.

"You know I can't let them push me around," she said, quietly, "I have to be able to push back if it comes to that or I'm no good here."

He stroked a tendril of hair off of her face, knowing that despite the protective streak that ran through him when it came to her, that she was right about having to be tough in this corner of the world. But at least in several weeks, she'd be leaving this life behind her for a while and pursuing the dream she had worked so hard for since he had known her. And he knew he would miss her an awful lot.

She felt suddenly unable to look at him.

"I guess I'd better move some of those bales in the barn before I take off," she said, walking to the stack of alfalfa, which filled the morning air with its sweetness.

Of course, C.J. could never smell alfalfa without thinking about when she hooked up with her first boyfriend, Cord inside a stall in the barn when both of them were supposed to be at the barbecue celebrating Texas' Independence Day when she'd been 17. Her uncle had been looking for her when he noticed she hadn't been around for a while and Matt had covered for her when he bumped into her and Cord leaving the barn their arms around each other before heading back to the festivities separately. She had expected him to give her a time about it but he hadn't done that.

Shaking her head, she picked up a bale, hoisting it on her shoulder, wondering if he would be heading back to the Wrangler later on to shoot more pool and make the most of his remaining time as a free man. She had gone there several times to meet up with local guys who would buy her drinks but then didn't seem to want to do much more than that even when she had been willing. When she asked them to dance, they would make up some excuse and then walk away. Puzzled, she had chalked it off to not being eye candy like Delia and Scarlett who attracted men to them like bees to honey. So she had stopped going after a while and had retreated back to the ranch, thinking she would make up for lost time the few minutes here and there she would have free for a social life in Boston.

Now turning her thoughts away from her somewhat checkered history with men, she sighed as she brushed her hair off of her face and watched Matt working on the fence, his capable hands gripping the edge of the boards while he lined them up to nail them together. She had spent so many hours on most of the cool mornings leading to hot summer days just like this one, working alongside the friend she thought she knew better than herself. But at moments like this one, she thought that a platonic friendship like theirs was so overrated. The way his jeans sculpted his muscular build and the way his strong hands traced over the fencing, she could imagine them caressing something else. Like her before she wrapped her arms around him. She shook her head at where her mind took her this morning and kept it focused on the hay and on her list of chores for the day.

Matt looked at C.J. while she took the final bale of hay into the barn before returning to his own work. He should have stopped tending to the fence and gone over and helped her but he knew if he had done that, she would have refused his assistance and then got on him for thinking less of her than being the hardest worker on the ranch. She had to be the way her uncle drove her and she attacked her school studies with equal ferocity, trying to fill something missing inside her like the fact that she had grown up without her parents after death had claimed them. She had spent little time concerning herself with after school activities and social events and she held on to her dream of being a big time criminal attorney to make up for missing all that. Sometimes he felt that it consumed her whole life in a way nothing had quite held his own for that long. She certainly kept herself very busy from the time the sun hit the valley in the morning with its promise to the time it set at night.

During the entire time he had known her, she had never complained about having to work so hard, without much time off. Except for the two weeks she spent in bed after being bitten by an irate rattler while herding some stray calves back to the herd. Matt had found her on the ground not too long after and had lifted her carefully up on his horse before riding back to the ranch, his horse kicking up grass and dirt clods the whole way. They hadn't known for a while if she would make it and he had spent time praying in the hospital chapel when he hadn't been keeping vigil at her bedside. They all should have known better, that nothing certainly not a snake could ever keep a vibrant force like C.J. down for long.

"What are you thinking about, "a feminine voice said behind him.

He turned around and saw the object of his thoughts standing there with her arms folded looking at him intently.

"You done loading the hay?"

She snorted.

"What do you think," she said, "You've been watching me. Probably to make sure I didn't let one strand of precious alfalfa hit the ground."

He shrugged.

"The market's going up," he said, "We have to make every bale count."

"Don't worry about it," she said, "It's all stacked up nice and neatly in the barn."

With that, she sauntered into the barn to gather her horse so that she could go check on the steers again. This time, by herself without any ranch hands to help her. She paused looking back at Matt who had finished nailing a piece of wood and looked at it critically.

"Hey Houston…"

He looked up at her.

"Hey yourself," he said, "What's up, I thought you and Karma would be taking off across the meadow by now."

She kicked the toe of one of her boots in the dirt.

"I'm going out to check on those steers…"

"And you think you might need an extra hand to help you with any heavy lifting," he finished.

She nodded.

"If you have the time," she said.

"For you, I'll always have the time," he said, "I'll drop on by when I'm finished here."

She threw one last smile at him before heading back to the barn. He looked at her shapely form, her shirt tucked into a pair of worn jeans, walk away for a while before remembering he had a fence to finish fixing.

C.J. looked out over at the steers who just stood there grazing and this time she hoped that she was alone. Ever since that run in with Clyde the previous day, she had visions of him flashing in front of her, the quiet fury on his face, the alcohol on his breath and his hands all over her. The rational side of her that would make a great lawyer someday reminded her that the former ranch hand wouldn't dare show his face again after the warning that Matt had given him. She would like to think that the ass whipping she had given him and fact that now he knew she was armed would deter him but she also knew that this corner of the country bred chauvinism, along with cattle. And the ideal that women were to be seen, but not heard and when they weren't in the kitchen or in the bedroom, then there really wasn't much use for them.

She and her friends used to joke about it while hanging out at the diner in town but they all felt it, just like they felt the humidity that haunted the region during the summer months. Oppressive, sometimes smothering but there was no alleviating it and certainly no escaping it but if you stayed around long enough you learned to ignore it even as it remained in the background waiting for a moment of weakness. And she knew from her first few weeks in this remote corner of Texas, that if she ever felt weak, she couldn't ever dare show it.

She reined in her horse and decided to go after the half dozen steers and move them on over to a pasture which still held onto patches of greenness, while the sun baked the land around it. Bordering that plot was a small stream that could get a whole lot bigger during the summer monsoons but for most of the year, it bubbled while etching itself deeper in the muddy banks where the roots of the trees clung tenaciously. On some hot afternoons, she retreated to the shady patch of land by the stream and taking off her boots and socks, stuck her feet into the chilly water, closing her eyes as it soothed her tired feet. And on fewer afternoons, she would lie back on the grass, close her eyes and imagine herself miles away. Picturing what it would be like to travel to Boston and study at Harvard School of Law, hole up in the law library for hours with only coffee and a pile of books to keep her company. Attending seminars given by top attorneys and legal scholars that she had only read about and maybe going to social gatherings in a much more relaxed atmosphere inside stylishly decorated homes from a different era and the conversations that would take place.

In several weeks, she would be entering into a world, far different from her own.

It all sounded so damn perfect except for one thing. Matt would be stationed in the military someplace else probably thousands of miles and half the world away. With a new century, a new millennium having just begun, the nation was not at war with any other country but she knew that could change at any time. And whenever she remembered that, she felt fear that anything bad would happen to her best friend. Of course these days she never told him how she felt about his military enlistment, figuring he had enough on his mind already without her fussing over him.

The steers just looked up at her, their jaws chewing grass and when she and Karma moved towards them, they stood their ground until Karma lowered her head and neighed in that way of hers that made it clear who was boss. Surely enough, the steers decided that they were done with brunch and moved along to where C.J. directed them to go.

Matt finished the fencing and went to the barn to get Ruckus out of his stall and saddled up to go help C.J. with the steers if she needed him. On his way, he ran into one of his father's most experienced ranch hands, Bo who looked at him funny.

"Houston, I heard some rumors about you firing one of the ranch hands yesterday," he said, "You know that makes us short-handed."

Matt just looked at the older man.

"Business decision," he said, "He wasn't keeping his mind where it belonged, on the job."

Bo shrugged.

"I heard it had to do with C.J.," he said, "Did she just cost us another one?"

Matt sighed.

"I know what you're thinking and you'd better stop thinking like that," he said, "He refused to take orders from her and he really needed to learn some manners."

Bo looked confused.

"Did she really pull a gun on him and try to shoot him?"

Matt narrowed his eyes.

"Where are you picking this all up," he said, "Or should I even ask."

"Lamar and I stopped by the Wrangler," Bo said, "And we ran into him and Dylan and they told some wild story about C.J. going after Clyde with a shotgun."

"A lot less firepower than a shotgun," Matt said, "But it was self-defense and I had some words with Dylan last night about his friend."

Bo frowned.

"He didn't mention that part."

Matt didn't guess that the ranch hand would but he hoped that his message had gotten across to him. He would hate to reduce the labor force of a fellow rancher by one but he meant it when he had warned Dylan to stay away from C.J.

"No I would think he wouldn't," Matt said, "but I don't expect Clyde to make a return visit."

Bo hesitated.

"Look I like her too and she works harder than my old mule did…but she's a bit more spirited and a lot more stubborn."

Matt bit back a smile.

"That's part of what makes her…C.J., Bo," he said, "the woman we all know and care about and who would take a bullet for anyone of us without asking."

Bo looked at the ground for a moment.

"Okay then," he said, "But if we can just keep this new hire of yours too busy to mess with her until she leaves for school…"

Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Listen Bo, is there any reason why you came looking for me," he said, "I've already had responses to the ad I placed for a new hand and I've got to saddle up and go out and help C.J. with some steers."

Bo hesitated.

"Your uncle called," he said, "He wants you to have dinner with him tonight. Since you and Will are joining the army in a few weeks."

Matt knew his uncle had no qualms about his son joining the armed forces to serve his country, given his own extensive background but Matt also knew that his uncle had lived most of his life in the shadows involved in some shadowy organization or branch of the government. He wasn't sure of its name or its purpose or exactly what his uncle had been doing, he just knew that Roy hadn't been given a golden handshake form of retirement when he had walked away from it, an older man. Most of Matt's life, his uncle had barely spent any time in Wild Fork, living on the edges watching his own family age and try to survive while living with him in some strange form of half-life. And whenever he had been gone, mostly disappearing into the night, Aunt Flo's eyes had lost their light and his father became quieter. He knew now that each time Roy had gone off on one of his assignments, his absence served as a reminder that he had chosen his country over his loved ones and they had resented him for it while pretending otherwise to preserve the illusion of a happy family.

"Will's still not back from his last vacation," Matt noted, "He's been having a lot of fun according to the last post card I received."

"I think he wants you to look after him Houston," Bo said, "You know how Will is when he grabs hold of something."

"He never quits no matter what," Matt finished, "Usually he's been the one who's looked after me. He's older than am."

And Will had protected Matt many times when they had been smaller. It took Matt until just after puberty to grow into his lanky frame and his cousin who had always been built like the linebacker he would become had looked out for him. And when C.J. had come into their lives, she had looked out for the both of them.

The first time any kid tried to pick a fight with her on the playground which happened during her first day at school, she made short work of him with a few deft blows of her fists and no one ever made fun of her again for being the niece of a ranch foreman who had no parents left. The three of them became close friends during the years they had spent growing up together.

Matt didn't know what his uncle wanted to talk to him about but he had always forged a relationship with his father's only sibling because despite the turmoil within his family, it still meant everything to him.

"After I get done today, I'll head on over to his ranch."

Matt knew whatever his uncle had to discuss with him, it was probably important but he had a day filled with work ahead of him and so he relegated everything else to the back of his mind. After saddling Ruckus, he headed on out to where he thought C.J. would be heading with the steers. He knew that she was more than capable of handling any ranch chore she faced but after the escapade of the previous day, he worried about her being off on the sprawling ranch by herself.

She had gotten one of those cell phones that his father had ordered but reception out near the neighboring hills often proved sporadic. As he rode across the land that would one day belong to him, he noticed its beauty even during the time of year, when the sun burnt away most of the canopy of wild flowers, filling every shade of the rainbow into all but memories. He looked ahead to the line of trees which lined Snake Creek which still had a healthy current this time of year. Matt had spent hours sitting by the creek to escape the hot sun sometimes with C.J. while they talked about everything and nothing with each other, comfortable enough around each other so that no topic was taboo. As he passed by, he saw a few head of steer grazing and a horse tied up to a tree which looked an awful lot like Karma. He rode on over and slid off of his horse, tying him close to hers and headed down the bank to the stream.

She sat there with her booths resting beside her and her body weight resting on her hands placed behind her. He walked over to join her and she heard his approach, because she flashed a smile at him before he sat down next to her, their shoulders brushing in a way they were accustomed.

"Damn it's hot," C.J. said after a moment, dipping her feet back in the coolness of the water.

He took off his boots and socks and joined her, closing his eyes as the water swirled around his feet and minnows nibbled at them, before darting off for better fare.

"The rains will ease it up a bit, at least for a little while," he said.

C.J. chuckled.

"The nights might be cooler but it will be even more humid," she said, "Still I like the way the air smells after it rains."

Matt did too, the way the scents of the flora weighed heavily in the breeze and mingled with the mixture of damp earth, and ozone charged air. You could close your eyes and draw a breath and know exactly where you stood. But as impressive as the monsoons proved to be, there were storms and then there were _storms_ like the woman sitting next to him.

He looked at her sideways as he stared out across the stream.

"It's so beautiful here even on days like this," Matt said, "Sometimes I think too beautiful to leave."

"You're not having second thoughts," she asked, "Besides, you'll fulfill your obligation to preserve the freedoms of this country and then Will and you will return back home and this land's not going anywhere."

He hesitated.

"What about you?"

His questioned waited in the air, for an answer and she felt that but didn't rush her words. She wouldn't, not even for him.

"I don't know Houston," she said, "Maybe I'll come back if my uncle needs me…Maybe I'll stay in Boston and get work there…And there's always California."

She and Matt had often talked about the golden state, the land of dreams and opportunities, what some people who didn't know better called the Promised Land, which everyone with any sense knew was in Texas. Still, they had often idly wondered what it would be like to relocate there so Matt could start his business. With her at his side, he would continue with his dreaming. But she begged off, reminding him that her heart remained in criminal law and that would be the focus of her studies and her professional life once she finished Harvard.

"I might go out West," Matt mused, "I've got some ideas of what kind of business I'd like to start, to prove that I can make it on my own without my daddy's help or his money."

"You can do anything you want Houston," she said, "You just need to figure out what it is that you really want to do. Maybe while you're in the military…"

Matt didn't want to think about that major shift approaching right now.

"You know Will was the one who really wanted to sign up," he said, "He talked me into it."

She looked up at him startled.

"Houston, why would you go into the military for the next several years if it's not what you really want?"

He looked uncomfortable.

"I didn't say I didn't want to do it," he said, "I do…I made the decision once I thought about it. It'll be a good experience."

"It could be very dangerous," she added, "but I promised I wouldn't remind you of that."

He heard the tinge of concern in her voice, though her eyes hid it from him. Without thinking, he reached over to stroke her hair off of her face. And she let him, closing her eyes for a brief instant as his finger brushed her soft skin until she shook her hair and shot him one of her smiles. Then she reached into the stream with her fingers and splashed water on his face.

Ice cold water, which jolted him into action.

"Ms Parsons, you're going to be real sorry you did that," he said, returning the favor by splashing her back until a water fight threatened.

C.J. loved their water fights, because that's where she bested him when it came to more physical contests. And afterward, they would lie back for a while, forgetting everything else, until the sun dried their clothes.

She ducked as he splashed her and got him back. Now she thought he would reach into the stream to splash more water her way but instead he grabbed her shoulders and pressed her to the earth to stop her from gaining a chance to attack him again. She looked up at him surprised and tried to push him off but he grabbed her hands and rendered them useless. Laughing at him, she tried to maneuver herself out from his hold but ended up drawing him closer to her. A lot closer

Then everything around them just stopped.

She thought she could hear a heart beating and she felt his breath on her face, while he gazed into her eyes and she saw something there…that made her think that he was going to step over the boundaries that had governed their friendship and kiss her. And she realized then how much she him to do that. How much she wanted to feel his lips brush her own just before owning them while they lay together by the stream. She tried to read his eyes but too much lay there to sort out and she became distracted when his fingers ran through her hair, brushing her forehead. Her heart quickened in her chest and she struggled to breathe.

"Houston…"

That seemed to break the spell between them and she saw conflict flash in his eyes and he removed himself from where he had been rolling over on his back. They both remained silent for a while.

C.J. finally broke it.

"You can relax Houston," she said, "I'm not going to seduce you or anything like that. I know better."

They rolled toward each other.

"What does that mean," he asked.

"You and I, we might be best friends but we're very different," she said, "Different backgrounds, different tastes. I'm not saying it wouldn't be fun…maybe great but it wouldn't work."

He appeared to think about that.

"That's not what your body said a moment ago," he pointed out.

She didn't miss a beat but then she rarely did.

"That's not what yours said either," she said, "and it's more obvious with guys."

Matt sucked in his breath, remembering her candor with just about every subject.

"You're…blunt."

She sat up and shrugged.

"Is that something that you didn't know," she asked.

"No but…"

"Look I know I have this reputation for cowboys but you're safe with me," she said, "We're just wouldn't work out and with you…we're just better off as friends."

He nodded.

"Okay…friend," he said, "Let's get back to figuring out what to do with those steers, okay?"

They both set about to do just that, filing this latest episode of their lives neatly away with the rest.

* * *

Matt drove to his uncle's ranch after he showered and changed at the ranch house after he and C.J. had moved the steers to another pasture with enough greenery to keep them happy for a week or two. They had chatted amiably enough while working and on the ride back before they went off in their separate directions. She to meet with Alexis and Dianna at the diner and he, to have dinner with his uncle.

The drive was scenic enough but Matt's thoughts remained on that afternoon and what had happened between him and C.J. at the stream. She had been just so damn irresistible sitting there right next to him and when the water had soaked her shirt enough to outline her generous…curves, his playful nature had been replaced by something else. He had meant to kiss her, to probe her mouth with his own, gently tasting her but when he looked at her, he just stopped, transfixed. Not a state he usually found himself when in such close proximity to a woman but C.J. wasn't just another woman to him.

He turned into the long drive leading to Roy's spread past the pastures where horses grazed and he saw a couple of hands leading horses by their shanks down the dirt path which paralleled the road.

His uncle met him at the front entrance and after Matt parked his truck, he met up with him and they walked into the house to enjoy a before dinner drink in his uncle's study. Pictures lined the walls of members of the Houston family tree but very few of them actually included his uncle but judging from some of the expressions on the faces of those in the pictures, including Flo and Will, he must have been the photographer.

"It's always good to see you Uncle Roy," Matt said, sitting down with a Scotch, "but why did you need to invite me here?"

Roy sighed.

"I'll get to that later," he said, "How's are things going on the ranch with Bill gone?"

"It's been running smooth as silk," Matt said, "I've got a couple more hands to hire before I head off with Will to Basic."

"Sounds good," Roy said, "C.J. will be heading off to law school soon too."

Matt nodded.

"A couple days before I leave," he said, "She's really excited about going."

Roy smiled.

"She's going to do great there," he said, "And it will give her another chance to leave this town behind her."

"You make Wild Fork sound like a bad place."

"It used to be a much better place to raise a family," Roy said, "Especially if you weren't around much but lately, things have really changed and I think C.J. feels that more keenly."

"One of the hands attacked her yesterday when she asked him to help her with the steers," Matt said, "By the time I got there; she had him at gunpoint and ready to run off."

"Good job," Roy said, "She's never been one to look for a fight but she has to defend herself."

"I understand that," Matt said, "I wish it didn't have to be that way."

Roy shrugged.

"That's the way things are unfortunately," he said, "But whereas it might break some people, in others it just strengthens their resolve."

* * *

C.J. sat with her two closest friends in Wild Fork while the three of them ate some barbecue plates and sipped sweet tea. The three of them had been thick as thieves for years and she knew that although her friends were happy for her, they would miss her when she had left them for the next chapter in her life.

"You'll keep in touch won't you," Alexis said, eating a forkful of burnt potatoes, "You won't forget about us here."

C.J. rolled her eyes.

"Of course I will," she said, "You're my best friends."

The two of them looked at each other then at her. After all, she was the one who was getting out of here, while they remained tied to the town which they had lived in their entire lives.

"You're going to be so busy studying and going to parties you won't have any time to think about what you left behind here."

C.J. sighed.

"I'm not going to have hardly any time for partying," she said, "Law school's tough and it keeps you busy."

"What about guys," Alexis said, "I heard they got a lot of them even in Boston."

C.J. sipped her tea.

"I'm hoping if I have time they're better than the ones here."

Dianna looked up.

"Speaking of which, I ran into that guy you used to hang with, Dylan," she said.

C.J.'s eyes narrowed suddenly.

"He's back in town," she said, "I haven't seen him…since he left."

Alexis shot a look at Dianna.

"He's definitely back," she said, "He's working at a nearby ranch and already making the rounds."

C.J. looked at her plate.

"I ran into one of his friends yesterday," she said.

Dianna looked at her closer.

"Is that where you got the eye," she asked.

"It's a long story," C.J. said, "Let's just say his friends aren't any nicer than he is."

Alexis nodded.

"Maybe that explains the run in he had with Matt at the Wrangler last night," she said.

C.J.'s brows rose.

"Run in?"

Alexis paused to see if she remembered it right from one of the other waitresses.

"Matt threatened him over something," Alexis said, "That's all I heard but Dylan scrambled out of there."

Now C.J. felt confused.

"They barely know each other."

Alexis clasped her hands.

"Well Matt definitely got some point across to him," she said, "So he knew him well enough."

C.J. shook her head.

"Sometimes I just can't figure him out," she said.

Alexis laughed.

"What's there to figure out," she said, "He's a guy in a town filled with them and in a few weeks from now, you'll both be making tracks out of here and putting us all in your rear view mirror."

They continued talking but C.J. found herself thinking about Matt and how he had threatened her ex-boyfriend.

* * *

Matt sat over some barbecue at his uncle's house where they had taken their meal out to the back porch which oversaw Roy's horse farm. His wife was out of town visiting an ill sister and Roy had been putting most of his time into getting a batch of yearlings ready for the sale ring. He had even invited C.J. to help him out and she had spent a day with him and his other hands deciding which ones to keep and which ones to put up for sale.

After they enjoyed their meal, Matt cut to the chase.

"So what did you want to tell me uncle," he asked, looking at him.

The older man studied him back and then took a deep breath.

"You know what I did for a living don't you," he asked finally after refreshing their glasses with scotch from the decanter.

"I understand bits and pieces of it," Matt said, carefully, "I know you weren't a traveling salesman."

Roy smiled and looked over at his nephew who had grown up so quickly, mostly while he had been gone.

"I worked for the Company, which is an even more covert agency than the CIA," he said, "In fact, that agency often consulted mine for assistance on deep cover operatives."

"Okay so you were a…spy then," Matt said, "Which doesn't exactly surprise me."

Roy sighed again.

"It required unquestionable commitment and loyalty to my country," he said, "Often over my own family."

"Uncle Roy, I'm not judging you," Matt said, "I'm not my father."

Roy looked away a moment and Matt saw a pain that perhaps had lived longer than he had flash through his uncle's eyes.

"I missed seeing my son grow up into a fine young man," Roy said, "I missed time with my wife. Your father never approved of my career choice."

Matt nodded, remembering some arguments behind the two he had overheard as a child, even considering how discrete the two men had been at keeping their differences of opinion under wraps until that final estrangement.

"So you are a spy," he said, "That still doesn't explain why you invited me to dinner, does it?"

Roy studied him again and Matt knew it was serious.

"What is it," he pressed.

"I've been out of service for quite a few years Matlock," he said, "but I still have connections and even in so-called peace time the world is a dangerous place."

"Meaning…"

"You and my son will be going into the military for the next several years of your life and the world can change from a decision made in a split second."

Matt furrowed his brow.

"I know that Uncle Roy," he said, "I know the risks of the decision I made and Will does too."

Roy smiled at him.

"Of course you do," he said, "What I'm saying boy is just be ready for anything and remember to come back safely when you're through. You could wake up one day and find out that you're in the middle of a war."

"I plan to do that," Matt said, "And Will and I will do just fine. We won't be assigned together but we'll keep in touch."

Roy nodded and returned to his dinner, dismissing the topic. But it remained in Matt's mind quite a while longer.

Life was about to change in a big way, in ways he couldn't begin to anticipate.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm done with another chapter of this strange FF story. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

Matt just looked at the two investigators who had walked onto his helipad, shocked into silence. The copy of the arrest warrant still rested in his hand, with C.J.'s name on it. He took another look at it and frowned at he recognized another name typed onto it below hers.

Dylan Cade.

Confusion ran through him at that blast from the past and he looked back at the two men.

"He's dead," he asked.

The two men nodded and C.J. just looked at all of them as if the world had gone crazy.

"What's going on here," she said folding her arms, "Is this some kind of joke?"

The two men looked at each other then flashed their badges.

"It's no joke Ms Parsons, I'm Investigator Garcia and my colleague is Investigator Peterson" one of them said, "We're going to have to take you down to the county courthouse to sign the paperwork to fly you out to Laredo County tomorrow morning for an arraignment."

Matt just stared at them, after inspecting their badges.

"Now hold on here," he told the two men, "You think she killed him?"

Garcia looked up at him.

"She's the primary suspect," he said, "after an extensive investigation."

Now Matt folded his arms.

"She didn't kill anyone," he said, "There's something wrong with your investigation."

"We'll see about that," Peterson said.

"When did this happen," Matt asked, "When was Dylan Cade murdered?"

C.J. had gasped inwardly when she heard that familiar name, the name of her ex-boyfriend from her years back in Wild Fork, the town where she and Matt had grown up.

"They found his body a month ago but he'd been dead a long time," the investigator said, "We just got the tests back and there's evidence tracing Ms Parsons to him at the time of his disappearance about five years ago."

C.J. shook her head.

"Last I heard…he disappeared but that was some years ago."

The investigator nodded.

"That's right and you were in Wild Fork at the time that he turned up missing, weren't you?"

She hesitated.

"Yes I was," she said, "I didn't associate with him."

Garcia looked at Peterson.

"That's not what some people told us," he said, "They said that you two had a rather serious relationship."

"When I was 18," she said, "but he left town not long after we got together and I didn't see him until several years later…"

"He was married to a woman named Nadine Carter," Garcia said, "She said that you two were quite the item even after he got married."

Matt remembered Nadine and that not everything that came out of her mouth could be accepted as factual. She liked to spin her words when it suited her.

"She's not telling the truth," C.J. said, "I never wanted anything to do with him after we broke up."

Garcia shook his head.

"She said that she saw you together…"

C.J. remained silent.

"She admits that they argued quite a bit before he disappeared," he said, "Mostly about his wandering eye and a lot of their spats were over you."

C.J. stared back at them.

"That still doesn't mean that I killed him," she said, "Like I said I barely saw him after we broke up and that's all I'm going to tell you until I talk to counsel."

Garcia smirked.

"You'd better get yourself a lawyer," he said, "You're going to need one lady."

Matt put his hand up.

"Now hold on here, this is crazy, there's no way that she killed him," he said, "How can you put her under arrest when you haven't even questioned her?"

"We've got enough for an arrest Mr. Houston," Peterson said, "Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to have to take her with us. We need the judge to sign some paperwork."

Garcia took out a pair of handcuffs and moved towards C.J. She backed up a step and looked at Matt, who balled his hands into fists and placed himself in front of her.

"Now you can make this easier for us or tougher, it's your choice," he said then turned to Matt, "That goes for you too. Anything you do to stop us isn't going to help her."

C.J. rubbed Matt's shoulder with her hand.

"Come on, it's going to be okay," she said, "I'd better go with them. You follow, okay?"

He looked at her and nodded. When he saw fear in her eyes despite her attempts to hide it from everyone, he took hold of both of her hands in his own and kissed her gently on the mouth.

"I'm not going to let anything happen," he told her, "You can count on that. I'll get Uncle Roy and we'll be down at the courthouse with you, okay?"

She smiled weakly and nodded.

"You still owe me that date," she said.

Garcia and Peterson moved towards her and handcuffed her hands behind her back. She allowed it, not wanting to make a bad situation worse and she smiled at Matt so that would understand that she could handle it. She never took her eyes off of him nor did he from her as they walked her to the elevator and left the way they arrived.

* * *

Matt phoned his uncle after he had gone to the parking garage and gotten into his sports car, to drive to the courthouse where he knew they would be taking C.J. The skies had darkened as night had arrived in L.A. but Matt knew that the investigators would be able to track down a judge to conduct an extradition hearing to turn her over to Laredo County where she would await prosecution on murder charges.

"Uncle Roy, I'm on my way there right now," Matt said, turning onto a street which would take him straight to downtown.

"If the judge grants the motion, they'll have her on the next plane," Roy said, "and on the way to their jurisdiction for the next stage of the process."

"I can't believe this just happened," Matt said, "C.J. wouldn't…she didn't kill anyone. This is just crazy."

"So Dylan Cade was dead all this time," Roy said, "That explains his absence for the past five years.

"Couldn't happen to a nicer guy," Matt said, "but that just means the list of suspects could be longer than just one name."

"Doesn't sound like the police did much investigating," Roy said, "if they only found the body a month ago."

Matt turned his car into a parking garage adjacent to the courthouse.

"I'm here," Matt said, "I wonder where they're holding her."

"They've got a detention wing inside there," Roy said, "Unless they can round up a judge to sign their papers, that's where she'll be staying."

"I'll talk to you later…"

Matt parked his car and got out to head into the building.

* * *

C.J. sat in the holding cell while Garcia and Peterson talked with a deputy at the front desk. The woman had started making phone calls to find a judge. She knew if that happened, then she would face an extradition hearing tonight and be on her way to Laredo County not long after. She sighed, as she thought how quickly her life had changed in just a matter of a couple of hours.

She had been in Matt's warm embrace, enjoying how he made her feel when they were together. And trying to decide where they would go on their first official date as a couple. Paris or Zurich were suggestions that he had dropped but it didn't matter to her where they went. As long as they were there together.

But then while she had been weighing that decision, in had walked those two investigators who had just arrested her not too long ago.

"Judge Walker will be hearing your case any minute," Garcia said.

That was quick, C.J. thought. There must be some serious political heat coming down over this back in Texas. She hadn't been back to that corner of the state where she had grown up in five years mainly because she had no desire to return. Matt and she had left Wild Fork and Laredo County behind them when they had taken his fledgling company and had traveled out to California to turn it into an empire. Leaving a lifetime of memories behind them.

For Matt, he had felt like he had been drowning in guilt over the disappearance of his cousin while in the military each day he stayed and for C.J., there had been other painful reminders of her life there. Once they had hit the golden state and settled in with their entourage of friends, life had taken a much better turn.

Quite a few interesting twists and turns over the years now leading up to her arrest in connection to the murder of someone from her past.

Two deputies removed her from her cell and handcuffed her before taking her to the judge who presided over the nightly court session. Most of those paraded before him had been people arrested for prostitution, drugs or drunk driving but several were extradition cases like her own. The judge, an elderly man sat on the bench and she looked around and saw Matt and Roy sitting in the audience as the deputies instructed her to sit with the other defendants on a bench. She sat there, her hands forced behind her so that she couldn't move them nor could she sit comfortably. Sweat beaded on her face and dampened her shirt and she wondered if she even had legal representation. She would bring that issue up when it was time for her hearing.

She had stolen a glance at Matt and he had smiled encouragement but it didn't reach his eyes. She had nodded back at him before sitting down several yards away in front of him. The judge called the cases one by one and C.J. noticed a harried looking woman in a tired business suit who she realized passed for legal representation in night court. The woman who carried around a stack of color coded folders spent about a minute briefing each client before they appeared before the judge. Not enough time to help advise them, C.J. knew from her own experiences.

Matt looked over at C.J. seeing the back of her head as she awaited her hearing. He had located an attorney back in Texas to help her once she arrived because he knew this hearing was but a formality. Roy had phoned in some contacts in Texas as well who would help them find out what the hell had just happened. They both knew that the very idea of C.J. killing anyone was ridiculous unless she had been protecting herself as in the case when she had pushed her murderous stalker off of a cliff near Matt's mountain cabin. Then again, the circumstances of Dylan's murder weren't clearly known, only that his body had been found and somehow tied to C.J. Matt's search for answers hadn't yielded much information so far, certainly not from the two investigators.

He had tried to read her face as she had walked by and if she felt any fear, she kept it clearly hidden from him and anyone else. But he knew she felt much differently than she had appeared, about what had just happened but about other situations as well. After all, he discovered not too long ago that she had harbored feelings for him for quite some time that transcended their life-long friendship. Feelings that had erupted years ago when they had been younger but had gone into hiding as they had grown up and moved forward with their lives far away from the town where they had grown up together.

He hadn't been any different. Having spent years working with her and watching her adapt to life out in California first while running Houston Enterprises and then when they focused their energies on his investigation firm. She had blossomed when he hadn't been looking and had become a force in her own right while he had been preoccupied with his constant string of eligible and not so eligible young women. And when he had finally really looked at her and noticed, he had been overcome with emotion so untapped and passion so raw that it had threatened to blow the lid off of their friendship.

So much like what had happened years ago before their lives had changed so irrevocably. This time, he reined himself in and took a more pragmatic approach. Not because his feelings were any less intense but because he knew that if he didn't, she might slip away. Back into their comfortable roles as best friends, the rules of their relationship so deeply etched into boundaries between them that had been built over time and due to circumstances in their lives that had threatened to break them.

"I think C.J.'s case is next," Roy said.

Matt looked up and saw her poised in her seat and ready to face the judge.

"God, this is such a nightmare," Matt said, "I don't even know what to do at this point, where to start."

Roy looked at him, unemotional.

"Yes you do Matlock," he said, "You go back to the beginning…"

Matt sighed, wondering what his uncle meant with his advice. The beginning for both of them was when they first met on his daddy's ranch after C.J.'s uncle had been hired as foreman. Before the accident that had changed him and before C.J. at the age of 17 had taken his place supervising a group of older men, some of them wanting to get their hands on the only freshly beautiful woman in miles. She had learned how to handle herself alright, and Matt made sure that he was there to protect her too only without her knowing it. If she had, she would have told him to back off, that she needed to find her own way to be effective at doing a man's work.

"She was always the liveliest force of nature on that ranch," Matt said, "Even when life really changed her."

"And this Slade character?"

"That's what really changed her," Matt said, "I wasn't around for all of it but I don't think he ever really let her go. Maybe not until he was dead."

Roy looked at him and Matt read his thoughts quickly enough.

"She didn't kill him Uncle Roy," he said, "I'd bet my life on that."

For Roy, that wasn't necessary. He had his secrets too.

C.J. stood before the judge who asked her if she had been informed of the process and she answered in the affirmative.

* * *

The actual hearing passed quickly as she was merely one of an assembly line of cases that evening. The public defender spoke with her a moment before telling her that she didn't have many options for avoiding extradition and that it just might prolong the inevitable, that she was going to go back to Laredo County to be prosecuted on murder charges. Today or a year from now, which greatly helped C.J in making her decision not to contest the order.

The judge asked her if she were sure in her decision.

"Yes I am Your Honor," she said, "I'm ready to go right now."

The judge talked to the investigators and they said that they would be flying out with C.J. back to Texas first thing in the morning. C.J. listened and realized she would be spending the night here in custody because there would be no chance of a bail hearing until she was on Texas soil. If it were granted, she knew it would be set high.

After the hearing, the deputies led her away and Matt had gone into the hallway to make arrangements to have his Lear Jet ready for him and his uncle to fly to Laredo County to meet her there. But not before he had told her goodbye and not to worry because she wouldn't be facing this crisis alone. The deputies nodded when they saw him approach and allowed him to spend a brief moment with C.J. before they led her back to the detention wing for the night.

He stroked her face, looking into her eyes and she yearned to touch him, to let him know not to worry about her. Concern etched his face and she felt pain tug at her from that.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he said, "Uncle Roy and I'll be in Laredo County when you arrive and we'll be right in that courtroom to bail you out."

She sighed.

"I don't know if they'll grant bail in a murder case Houston," she said, "It's Texas after all and that state has its own laws for criminals."

"You're not a criminal C.J. and you're no killer."

"I don't know if that will matter Houston," she said, as the deputies began to pull her away.

He watched them lead her away and every fiber pushed at him to stop the deputies but he knew for her sake, he had to just stand there and say goodbye to her for now. Roy joined him and patted his nephew's shoulder.

"I know it's tough but we'll be there to help her through this," he said.

"That will probably involve finding Slade's real killer," Matt said, "when the fact is, he probably deserved what he got."

Roy didn't argue with that for his own reasons.

"Come on, we'd better get going," he said, "We've got a lot of arrangements to make before tomorrow and we switch battlegrounds."

Matt thought back to the life he'd spent in Wild Fork and thought that he couldn't come up with a better description of what was to come than his uncle's own words.


	5. Chapter 5

Here's the update for this story. Hope you like it, thanks for reading and the feedback.

* * *

They drove for miles inside his Porsche with the top down, just the way she liked it. The car skillfully hugged the twists and turns of the highway as the pavement curved its way through the mountain range. In the trunk were their suitcases and in front of them lay the openness of the state of Texas ready for them to explore during their final road trip before they headed towards their separate destinies.

Matt did most of the driving while C.J. remained content to watch the scenery blow by. She had seen most of it before but it struck her as being different than she had remembered. The starkness of the mountains outlined the sky which hovered above them, a bright blue broken up by streaks of white and the blistering sun. They didn't stay still long enough for the afternoon heat to bake them and the wind that whipped through their faces as they sped down the strip kept them cool just enough. They spent each day driving to a new destination without necessarily being sure where they were headed and where they would motel on the road would house them for the night.

C.J. loved every minute of it and as she looked over at Matt, she saw a smile light up his face even as his eyes focused on the road. She could tell that like herself, he had been relieved to see Wild Fork in his rear view mirror at least for a while.

Actually even when they headed back there, it would only be for a few days to wrap up loose ends before they both headed off towards their futures. Hers lay in the carefully manicured buildings of Harvard School of Law and his at Fort Ord where he would undergo basic training with Will and other enlistees before heading off to his first military assignment. Their lives then would become regimented outside of their control and they would have to temper their independent streaks and answer to others.

They had just taken off, leaving behind their families, their friends and other…complications. C.J. had left her uncle behind sitting on the couch in front of the baseball game with a promise to return to finish up her commitment on the ranch before heading off again. He hadn't said much in response but then he rarely did these days having tempered his objection when Matt had promised him that he would hire two ranch hands to cover for her after she left. He had just done that and they had started working the day before the two of them had taken off on their road trip. Matt had left among other things, a trail of women who would surely miss him. His father had been at a board meeting finalizing a merger across the country when Matt and C.J. had left so he wasn't around for a farewell.

Now here they were speeding down the road on the third day and they had traveled partway across the broad state. Driving during the morning and stopping along the way to check out different sights, to go hiking or to just buy some lunch and picnic in some shaded area by the side of the road. At night, they picked some motel to stay into and after hitting the local bar or diner, went to bed in their separate rooms to get some sleep before starting up again the next morning. By the time she turned in, C.J. usually was exhausted as the days were so filled with adventure but as she lay in bed, she thought about Matt doing the same thing a couple doors away or down the hallway from her own room. She figured that he was thinking back to the women he had left behind in Wild Fork, like Scarlett, Dianna and Nanette who had all shed a few tears for him when they discovered that he was leaving town for a while.

And they had gnashed their teeth when they discovered that Matt hadn't been leaving town alone but that she had been invited to go with him. Why on earth if Matt was going to leave Wild Fork and all it had to offer behind, would he pick a scrap of a woman like C.J. to go with him? A woman that sure, might have graduated at the top of her high school class but had been a complete failure during her brief foray on the beauty pageant circuit and in this town, that was tantamount to being branded a pariah and shown the curb.

C.J. realized that she had narrowly missed a cat fight there, not that she couldn't more than hold her own if they tried to pick anything with her. Matt had given them some good loving and they should just accept it and move on. After all, it's not like the two of them were getting it on or anything. They were just spending some final days with each other away from Wild Fork knowing it would be a long time before they shared the same space again. Reigning queen Nanette truly believed it should have been here riding in Matt's Porsche instead though a past queen like Scarlett who had set the standard with her own tenure at the top obviously wouldn't agree. C.J. just figured out that the two women and anyone else could sort out their pecking order in their absence.

The road forked ahead and Matt took a turn off of the highway to a diner that had beckoned at them from the highway. They pulled up into a parking spot underneath a broadly branched tree and then walked inside, eager to get out of the mid-day heat. Sure enough, the diner had been air conditioned and a waitress handed them two menus and then directed them to a booth in the corner. The diner obviously attracted a healthy lunch crowd as most of the tables were occupied.

"I hope the burgers are good," C.J. said, "I could eat a bunch of them right now and some potato wedges dipped in ranch sauce."

Matt's brows rose.

"Really C.J., we didn't do anything yet today besides traveling so I don't know where this appetite of yours is coming from."

She leaned back against the plush of the booth.

"This has been so great Houston," she said, "I guess it's been all this freedom that's making me hungry."

Matt glanced at her, dressed in her casual attire of worn jeans and a tee-shirt. Her dark hair framing her face with its eyes that sparkled and the fullness of her mouth that had seen a lot of laughter in the past few days. And they had spent a lot of time doing just that, laughing at something silly the other had said, but mostly because they were together and having a lot of fun. The atmosphere between them had become more relaxed the more miles they had put between themselves and the ranch, not to mention the town that smothered them both. Matt clearly remembered the night before he had left, which had begun at the Wrangler.

* * *

He had been playing pool after working a full day at the ranch with C.J. as they had ridden out to bring some loose steers back to their herd. She had casually referred to their upcoming road trip and he had felt anticipation fill him, a headiness that he didn't know where it came from but it remained with him. He had put Ruckus in the barn and then jumped into the truck to head off to shoot some pool and that was where he ran into Nadine. She had been dressed in her halter top and short skirt which had hugged her generous figure. After having hit the sheets with her earlier, he had no intention of doing so again. But after she offered to buy him a drink, one thing had led to another and soon enough they had headed to the motel.

Afterward, she had stroked the hair on his chest and had started talking, and he half listened, his mind already elsewhere, thinking about his vacation.

"I don't know what the matter with you is," she drawled, "One minute you're with me and the next…you're a million miles away."

He paused.

"I'm right here," he said, "I'm just a bit tired. I've been working hard on the ranch to get a lot done before I head to basic."

She licked her lips and looked at him.

"You're really going to do it," she said, "Go into the military to be sent somewhere just to get your ass shot off."

"I'm going to serve my country if that's what you're asking," he said.

"You don't even have to like most guys here," she protested, "You've got a ton of cash coming your way when your old man dies…"

He frowned.

"Hey, I'm not interested in his money," Matt said, "I'm going to make my own way starting with the military and after that, I'm going to start my own business."

She sighed.

"That's noble and all but it's a waste," she said, "but I'm sure I'm not the only one to tell you that."

No she hadn't been, Matt thought but his mind had been made up for a long time now and he wasn't about to change it. Contrary to what most people thought, he had worked hard his entire life on the ranch and while playing football in high school and at Rice University.

"I know what I'm doing," was all he told her but the conversation had rankled him later mostly due to its familiarity.

That Matt had been nothing more than a playboy living off of his daddy's money and that he sat around all day waiting for the old man to die. Matt loved his father though he hadn't really seen much of him in the past several years. Still he had been the only parent he had ever known since the untimely death of his mother who lived only in his memories and the photographs which lined the staircase at the ranch house. Snapshots taken at different stages of her life, mostly before his time.

Nanette had prodded at him further and said that while he was gone, she wouldn't exactly be sitting by and twiddling her fingers until he returned. He of course had no problem with her living her life with him not in it and if that meant seeing other men, then that was perfectly fine with him. When she had hinted that Dylan had asked her out, he had bristled a bit only because he didn't like how the guy had treated his best friend.

"Be really careful with him," Matt said, "He's not exactly the nicest guy."

Nanette had just folded her arms.

"This is Wild Fork Matt," she said, "Nice guys are in really short supply here. A girl's got to take what she can get and he's making his way in the world."

Matt didn't know much about that, only that Dylan had been a ranch hand as long as he had known him, but one with dreams of rising up in the ranks of power in this small pond in a remote corner of Texas. But even here, it wouldn't be easy for any newcomer to do that given the closed nature of the power structure favored an established clique of long-standing old money clans. And its members didn't exactly trust outsiders much. Even those with much more money than Dylan could ever hope to accumulate. Still, although he didn't like the guy, he figured what Nanette did and who she did it with was her own business.

Just one more reason to get behind the wheel of his favorite car to drive away from it all with the only person who really understood him and have some fun. Someone who needed no alibi or explanation from him and would just go with the flow or roll with the punches. That last thought made Matt wince as he remembered the bar fight that he had nearly been caught up in just two nights ago. He and C.J. had stopped overnight in a medium sized town, bordering on becoming a city and after settling at a hotel had gone to check out a honky tonk bar on the edge of what passed for the main strip. Mostly just to unwind from a long day of driving and C.J. said, to burn off the road stop food they had eaten along the way.

They had walked in there and C.J. found herself being hit on by two different guys dressed up like cowboys, with shiny belt buckles and boots which squeaked when they hobbled up to her. Matt had run into a blonde woman with a wide hat at the bar and already had lined up some shot glasses. C.J. just shook her head at him and let the taller cowboy buy her a margarita which had been laced with too much tequila so she had put it down after a couple of sips and focused on the scenery around her including couples on the small dance floor.

The taller cowboy, Salt he called himself, regaled her with stories about the ranches he had worked on, all which she suspected were more fantasy than reality. After all, his hands had told a much different story as she guessed that he spent more time inside an office at the Xerox machine than outdoors. As he talked amiably to her, she wondered if Salt was his real name.

"Want to dance," a shorter dude said after sauntering up to her his thumbs under his belt buckle.

Salt just shot a beady look at the guy and told him to get lost. That this attractive woman with him was his date and to go find himself another woman. C.J. said nothing but took another sip of her drink because right now she needed that extra tequila.

"Excuse me, I've got to go refresh my drink," she said, watching Salt tower over the shorter guy.

"Now don't you worry about a thing sweet pea," Salt said, "I'll do it for you after I'm done with this guy."

_Sweet Pea? _

C.J. rolled her eyes at the both of them.

"No thanks…Salt," she said, "I can handle my own drink at the watering hole."

Salt shot her a look before returning to his conversation with the short guy. C.J. didn't really need to be within earshot to know that she had become the focal point of a territorial squabble between two testosterone infused men. And here she thought she had left that all behind when she left Wild Fork but since she still remained inside Texas, no such luck. She loved her home state but the machismo that more than a few men wore like a badge of honor got old after awhile. Ahead of her across a crowded bar of standing room only lay the bar where Matt still stood talking to the blonde whose name had been given in a breathy whisper as Chelsea. She stroked his arm with one carefully manicured finger.

"Oh you are just so handsome cowboy," she purred, "You obviously aren't from around here."

"No I'm not," Matt responded, sipping from his glass.

The woman flipped her hair back expertly from off of her shoulders and then shot him a slow smile. Well-rehearsed but otherwise a nice presentation, Matt thought.

"So where are you from?"

Matt smiled in response.

"Wild Fork," he said, "But I'm going to be heading to basic soon…"

"Basic training," she asked, "That sounds…different. So you're going into the army?"

Matt nodded.

"Military intelligence," he said, "So I don't know if I'll spend much time out on the field."

"So you're…smart," she said, twirling her own drink with her finger and then licking it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Matt saw C.J. approach and wondered how she had been making out with the pair of urban cowboys. Hopefully she had sent them packing, because they didn't look like they would last even one round with her beginning on the dance floor.

"What's up C.J."

She grimaced at him when she reached the bar and got an eyeful of Chelsea who sidled even closer to Matt when she saw C.J. approach. C.J. just eyed her briefly.

"You found a friend Houston," she said, "How nice."

Chelsea frowned at C.J.

"In case you're thinking about poaching, he's taken," she snarled, "And I don't do threesomes."

C.J. took a deep breath, exhaling.

"You sure picked a winner there Houston," she said, "I'm just here to refresh my tequila and then I'll leave you with your…friend."

The bartender filled up her glass and she took it, looking once more at Matt before walking across the bar. Matt watched her leave, her mahogany hair tied loosely behind her and wearing jeans and a print blouse. He saw one of the cowboys, the taller one walk towards her and they started talking again and then they walked away, the man's arm wrapped around her, his hand resting on her lower back.

"Excuse me…"

Chelsea looked at him, her mouth hanging open as he headed off where C.J. stood with the two men. It felt strange to Matt but he had felt an overwhelming urge to have his best friend take a spin on the dance floor with him. Sure, they had danced together in the past more so at events held at the auditorium in the center of town rather than at places like the Wrangler. Even a slow dance here and there and damn, she could move her body in many different ways to ballads be they country or rock.

Suddenly, he saw the shorter cowboy grab her arm, nearly causing her to drop her drink and then his walk became much faster.

"What's going on," he said, even before he reached C.J.

Luckily the jam packed room of people had parted like the Red Sea when he had maneuvered his way across to find out what the hell was going on.

"Houston, I was just telling junior here to get his hands off of me," C.J. answered, "But really it's nothing I can't handle."

"C.J. if you need me to go take him out and teach him some manners, I will."

She shook her head.

"Like I said Houston, I can handle him," she said, and then turned toward Salt, "and you too. I think I'm done with our conversation tonight now that you've decided to let your hands do the talking."

Salt stepped forward.

"But I thought…"

Matt stepped in between him and C.J. without even thinking first.

"Didn't you just hear what the lady told you," he said, "Now you best leave, both of you."

The two men looked at each other and even though they had been ready to lock horns like bulls over the woman in front of them, they decided that they were more than angry enough to forget that for a moment and focus on Matt.

"We will leave when we're good and ready to leave," Salt said, "Isn't that right, Wayne?"

The shorter guy nodded. C.J. just rolled her eyes.

"You've got to be kidding," she said.

Matt looked at her.

"I don't think they are," he said, "but this shouldn't take long."

She turned to face him.

"Houston…"

But Matt had already put himself between the two of them. And they approached him from both sides with their hands raised. Matt put his hands up as well.

"I don't want to fight you," he said, "but if you start something here, I will finish it."

The men looked at him, doubtfully.

"What we just want is for you to leave and let the lady decide what she wants to do," Salt said.

Matt looked over at C.J. who just looked at all of the men around her.

"I think I'm ready to go back to the motel," she said, finally, "So if you want to fight each other, you'll have to come up with something else."

"C.J. They were hassling you…"

She put a hand on Matt's chest as he stepped closer to the two men.

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before Houston," she said, "You know that."

Yes he did know that but right now, these men were looking for a fight and if he had to, he would give it to them. Whatever it took to protect his friend.

* * *

Now Matt sitting behind the wheel of his car thought back to that night and what had happened. C.J. stopped looking out the window and caught the expression on his face.

"You're thinking about the fight aren't you?"

There was no point in denying it so Matt didn't and she could tell by the way he clenched his jaw that she had hit it in the mark.

"I didn't need all that," she said, "I can handle myself, you know."

Matt paused before answering.

"C.J. those men…"

"They were a pair of urban cowboys Houston," she finished, "who never worked outdoors a day in their life. I could have handled them without even really thinking about it."

He heard a trace in her voice of what he had heard the other night after the first of the two urban cowboys, Salt he thought it was, had thrown a punch at him. He had sensed it coming as he had been trained and had ducked, then counter struck with an upper cut that made contact with Salt's face. The sound of the impact and Salt's eyes rolling in the back of his head was enough to tell C.J. that one of the men was already down for the count but the other one proved more crafty. He had gotten hold of a pool cue from one of the tables that lined the bar and had taken to swinging it at Matt's head.

Fortunately, if Matt knew how to defend himself against any weapon best, it was a pool cue given how many similar fights he had either participated in or broken up at the Rangler on a really slow summer night. But the smaller guy had gotten some solid hits in that Matt knew he would feel later on. As it turned out, the shorter guy had a couple of friends and soon enough, it turned into a brawl.

"They called the police on you guys," C.J. reminded him, "You're probably wanted across county by now or you would be if you hadn't thrown a couple Ben Franklins at the owner."

"Everybody walked away from it C.J.," he countered, "No permanent damage."

She felt like rolling her eyes at him for that. So then had the fight been because he had been cooped up during most of the day inside his car on the road? Maybe he was blowing off a bit of steam before he headed off into the much more regimented life of the military which appeared to frown on bar fights.

"I worry about you when you fight," she said, more softly, "One of these days you're going to get hurt or even killed."

The tone in her voice then made him look at her, her hair whipping in the breeze, her face tanned by the sun.

"That's not going to happen C.J."

"So you say but you don't know what's out there," she said.

Confusion filled him.

"Wait a minute, are we still talking about the odd bar fight or my going into the military?"

She remained silent for a moment and he thought he knew the answer. He realized that C.J. had qualms about his decision to join Will in enlisting in the army. That he would be putting his life at risk in some unknown place. That he would die on foreign soil thousands of miles away from the land that raised him. They had talked about it some but each time she had tried to broach the subject, he had cut her off, insisting that he knew what he was doing and that nothing bad would happen either to him or his cousin. That after his tour was over, they would return home to Texas and he would start up his new business away from his daddy's –with her at his side. If he could sweet talk her away from her dream of practicing criminal law.

"Houston I'm not ever going to tell you not to follow the course you've planned for yourself," she said, "but I'm not going to say I won't worry.

"You'll be too busy studying law to have time for that," he reminded her.

She turned her head to look at him directly.

"I won't ever be that busy."

After that statement, she let the subject drop as she usually did ever since he had made that decision which would so alter the course of his life. She knew that the military would change him in ways that he certainly couldn't anticipate. It would mature him surely though at times, he already seemed ahead of his years but she hoped it wouldn't harden him in the process. That when they both returned to Texas after their years of servitude to their respective masters was done, they would still recognize each other. But more than one veteran had returned to Wild Fork a changed man, having fought through one war or another until they returned home, broken.

At least now the nation was in between wars and at peace. If it could just stay that way until Matt returned home, she told herself not for the first time. Then she reminded herself again how selfish that was but she couldn't help herself. If anything happened to him…something inside her would just break too.

"Hey C.J."

"What's up," she asked him.

"You know you promised me a going away present," he said lightly.

She paused, looking back out the window.

"I told you it's a surprise so don't think you're going to get it out of me."

He chuckled.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said, "though I'm mite curious of what it might be. You packed lightly."

She shrugged, not willing to play his game.

"You'll find out."

"When?

She licked her lips as her mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"I'll…let you know," she said, "Hey look, isn't that beautiful over there?"

Matt looked at the lake ahead of them with a surface as a mirror though you couldn't see your reflection in it, just an endless blend of blue and green, interwoven together. He had taken a couple of fishing trips there when he had been in high school, with his friends and an ice chest of beer and had planned to stop by it during the road trip to see if it resembled his memories.

"I did a lot of fishing there," Matt said, "back when I was younger."

She chuckled.

"And you're an old man now?"

He smiled and kept looking straight ahead. C.J. thought he looked comfortable sitting behind the wheel as they neared the lake. He wore one of his university athletic tee-shirts and jeans which molded to his body as he turned off the main road.

"Oh let's stop here," she said, "I could easily drop down here for a month…"

"We've only got several days," he said, and she remembered they were already heading back.

Back to Wild Fork to wrap up their lives there before taking off again, the place where they'd say their goodbyes for a long spell.

"They've got cabins here," he continued, "Pretty nice ones. I know a guy who works here who knew my father."

C.J. just focused on the sunlight dancing on the water as they drove by it.

"Didn't your daddy used to come here on fishing trips," she asked.

Matt grew silent for a while.

"When I was a kid," he said, "Though they were more like business junkets with some of the power players in Laredo County and elsewhere. Though he did bring me here once."

And though his father had been holed up in a conference room for much of the weekend, he did spare a few precious hours to spend with his son on the lake. They packed up their fishing equipment and sat on the banks beneath the sunlight fishing in the great lake. And on one special afternoon, Matt's father had taken him up hiking in the surrounding hills, up a series of switchbacks and a meadow or two finally reaching a rock face where water cascaded down into a series of a larger pool and several smaller ones.

Matt had never forgotten that sight, the roaring of the water and how the chilliness of the water had been tempered by the heat that cloaked in the still air. How his father had showed him the schools of tiny fish that lived in the pools. How he had waded in the water up to his knees in anticipation until his father had nodded and said he could wander in further.

"How would you like to see a waterfall that's as high as you can see?"

She smiled at him and nodded.

"Okay I'm game Houston," she said, "But I'll be watching you."

"What for," he asked too innocently.

"Oh…you know," she said, not taking her eyes off of him, "I've learned not to trust you around bodies of water."

He grinned at her, as they turned into the parking lot and parked close to the cabin where his father's friend still lived.

"It looks really nice," C.J. said as they left the car.

* * *

The heat still scorched but a nice breeze wafted in from the lake and C.J. looked out at the fishermen, some with young kids standing there with their rods cast, looking seriously at work. They walked into the office where an elder man sat watching television from his couch. He looked up at them and his eyes soon brightened.

"Why you must be Bill's young boy," he said, getting up to meet them.

Matt smiled and stuck out his hand to shake the man's.

"Not so little now, but how long has it been?"

The man sized him up. C.J. couldn't blame him. Her friend now didn't look anything like the kid he had been, having filled out his lanky frame completely, growing muscles in all the right places due to his years of ranch living not to mention football playing.

"Oh it's been quite a while," Matt said, "We're just dropping by for a couple of days before we head back home."

The man nodded.

"I'll give you my best cabin," he offered, looking for the keys , "It's beautiful this time of year but not too crowded like it was last month."

The man gave Matt some paperwork to fill out and the keys and C.J. looked around the office, seeing photos of fishermen all over the wall, even spotting one with Bill in it, along with the father of the DA that she had worked for, Jack Prescow, sr and a former mayor. Quite a crowd, she mused.

"Oh we used to get together once or twice a year and go fishing," the man said, standing behind her, "More for the conversation than the fishing. The mayor couldn't catch a fish even if you threw it at him."

"I worked for Jack's son," C.J. said, "before Houston and I set off on this road trip. I still don't know that much about him."

The man shrugged.

"What's there to know," he said, "A chip off of the old block as I remember. Has stronger political ambitions, wants to be state attorney general or even governor some day."

C.J. had figured out the political ambition but a person needed a campaign chest and political machine to shoot for state office. She wasn't sure that despite his father's connection, Jack had either yet. And she thought his daily dalliances with the mysterious beautiful woman that wasn't his wife might bite him some day if he did seek serious office.

The man handed Matt the key and he and C.J. went to the car to get their bags before heading off to find it. And when they did, they were amply rewarded because it stood there, in front of them nicely painted with a small yard in front of it and it looked even better inside with two bedrooms and a kitchenette just off of both the living room and a back patio deck where people barbecued. C.J. took her bag into her bedroom and just dropped it, then returned to the living room and sank in the sofa. Matt stood in the doorway watching her.

"So you want to go check out the lake?"

She nodded enthusiastically and walked out with him, his arm casually wrapped around her shoulder. And while walking, she looked at him sideways, smiling to herself.

Thinking that the best part of the vacation still lay ahead of them.


	6. Chapter 6

The latest installment of this rather strange FF story. Hope you like it, thanks for reading and especially for the feedback.

* * *

C.J. stretched out on the bed inside the house that sat on a beautiful spread of land owned by Matt's uncle Roy who had refused to sell it even after his wife had died. And now that he had reunited with his formerly lost son, he had been glad to have kept the ranch and all the memories which remained wrapped in it within the family.

Will had settled down with his wife and a daughter who would turn two in a couple of months, and had been busy making up for all the time that he had lost while he had been among the missing caught in limbo between the known living and the buried dead. Roy had some of his hired help who tended the ranch fix it up for their arrival not that C.J. had been that picky about where she stayed at this point.

Any place was much better than inside a jail.

She had left the cell where she had spent the uncomfortable night in L.A. while awaiting her transfer to another facility in Texas. The plane flight with the two investigators had been uneventful and they had removed the handcuffs from her but had otherwise kept a close eye on her the entire trip. A car with tinted windows had picked them up at the airport and after the handcuffs were put back on, she was transported to Laredo County's seat which was about 20 miles away from the town where she had spent much of her life, Wild Fork.

Matt and Roy had gassed up the Lear Jet and had flown to meet her there and had actually arrived first so when she finally arrived at the old courthouse in downtown Laredo Flats, she had seen them sitting in the audience inside the courtroom where she faced off before an elderly man who kept flashing her stern looks.

She had been approached by a middle-aged man named Rusty Bateman and as it turned out, he was her attorney, with an office in town and a history including a stint working as a deputy prosecutor for Jack Prescow who still remained in that office that he had held for over a decade. Jack didn't appear but sent a younger man who didn't seem like he had been out of law school for all that long. After conferencing with C.J., Rusty appeared before the judge and called for a bail hearing.

The prosecutor vetoed that in a monotone voice so C.J. knew he was following a script that had been given to him by a supervisor. He said that since the case was already murder one and could be filed under the special circumstances of the provisions for the death penalty, that no bail should be granted. C.J.'s heart quickened when she heard the reference to the death penalty and that's when she knew she was back in Texas. She threw a worried glance back at Rusty and he just winked at her before he addressed the judge.

"Your Honor, I believe that bail should be granted, given Ms Parsons' lack of a criminal history and her good standing in the L.A. legal community, not to mention her exemplary reputation as an associate to one of the city's top investigative firms…"

C.J. looked over at the prosecutor who was already shaking his head and no doubt, preparing a rebuttal. Then at the judge whose expression, which was difficult to read. At Matt who tried to not look concerned and Roy, whose eyes watched everything that unfolded inside the room.

"Your Honor," the prosecutor protested, "This is a very serious, very violent crime and as such, mandates that the defendant remain in custody until the date of trial…and as for killing people, she does have a history back in L.A…"

C.J. closed her eyes.

Christian Dean, her high school classmate who had started killing to get to her long before she had to save her own life. Surely the judge couldn't hold that against her.

"Justifiable homicide Your Honor," Rusty said, "The LAPD lieutenant, Michael Hoyt can provide written documentation of that case."

"But Your Honor…that means she is a danger to society…"

She sighed at that, knowing that if the judge sided with the prosecutor, she would very well be spending the next year or so behind bars, which would make it very difficult for her to fight her case. Rusty argued back, reiterating that she had an excellent reputation.

Or so she did, she thought, until she had been arrested for murder. While the deputies were loading her into a car to go to the airport, the paparazzi showed up in force, clearly having caught wind of what had happened. No doubt her mug shot and photos of her being escorted by deputies in handcuffs had been splashed over the newspapers and television screens at least in L.A. especially if it was a slow news day.

The judge had stared at everyone along moment and she had sat there in anticipation of his decision. But he had finally said that after some deal of consideration, he would grant bail…to the tune of $2 million. It didn't take long before Matt had managed to spring her lose from the county jail and she hadn't even asked him what he had used as collateral. Not that it mattered, as she didn't plan on fleeing jurisdiction. No, she planned on staying right here and trying to figure out who really killed Dylan Cade because until she did that, the district attorney's office would pin his murder on her head.

After being released from custody, C.J. just wanted to head some place and take a nice long, hot shower to clean the grime real and imagined from where she had been since she had been arrested at Matt's penthouse suite. They headed first to catch a bite to eat at a nearby diner to meet with Rusty before they would head back to Wild Fork and Roy's ranch.

Rusty laid it all out for her, telling her that he had read the sheriff's department's investigative report on Cade's murder. As C.J. had remembered, he had disappeared five years ago but many people including his wife, Nadine had just assumed that he had run off and chased after some money making scheme, another man that had left her in the lurch so she hadn't filed a missing person's report. No one had really given him much thought until what had been left of his body had been dug up by a construction team that had been breaking ground for Wild Fork's very first strip mall. The land had originally been owned by an absentee owner who had lost it in a poker game to a sheriff deputy who had sold it to a developer.

After identification with the partial skeleton had made it clear that Dylan had turned up again, an investigation had been launched into his murder and there had been "items of interest" that had turned up in the process that linked him to C.J. not too long before his death. The evidence cited hadn't been described in any great detail which Rusty told her would be just one of the many elements of what he called a shoddy investigation would be challenged through legal filings.

"This case got handed off to Jack way too soon," Rusty said, "and he probably wouldn't have filed on it if it weren't an election year for him."

Matt raised his brows.

"What do you mean," he said, "Jack's been the town DA since both C.J. and I lived in Wild Fork."

"He's planning a run for higher office this time," he said, "to get out of this little backwoods pond."

C.J. nodded.

"You mean state attorney general, don't you?"

"You got it," Rusty said, shaking his head, "Career politician, he's been. His office has been suspected of being improperly run."

That didn't surprise C.J. who had her own suspicions beginning back to when she had clerked for him before heading off to Harvard.

"I know I used to work for him," she said, "Twice. Before and after law school."

Rusty didn't look surprised.

"Yeah I heard that from Jack," he said, "He didn't seem to remember you very much but then he's always had his…distractions."

C.J. knew just what they were, the man as long as she had known him had a beautiful wife but a wandering eye.

"I didn't work that long for him after I came back," she said, "It was a different climate then."

Matt looked over at her, remembering back to what had been a very difficult time. He had returned there sometime after his military stint had been done. His cousin had been declared killed in action and he had been wounded by shrapnel. He had been semi engaged to Christina or "Squeaky" as he called her and already working on his new business. For the first time in his life, he had forged out a direction for himself. Whereas for C.J. , it had been the opposite. That period had been the first time in her life she had truly felt lost.

They had left the diner with contact information for Rusty who headed back to his law office while C.J. and Matt headed back to join Roy at his ranch.

* * *

When she arrived, she finally had that shower that she had been thinking about all day, spent nearly an hour soaking beneath the hot spray, scrubbing her skin of any reminder of the past 24 hours. She then changed into some casual pants and a shirt and then walked towards the door. About halfway there, she changed her mind and just sank on the very inviting bed. She closed off and her mind wondered, back to the days when she had last set foot in Wild Fork.

Her uncle had finally died not long before she had graduated from Harvard with honors and she had to travel back to Wild Fork to settle his affairs, which as it turned out hadn't been very much. Boxes of photos hidden in the small attic of his entire life before he had essentially turned his back on it in his grief of losing most of his family. He hadn't left behind much money but no outstanding debts either. She had placed most of his possessions in storage and had moved into a small rental house closer to town while she started her job working in Prescow's field office, this time as an attorney. She mostly researched and wrote legal briefs and trial motions until she successfully passed the State Bar and would start making court appearances, arraignments and hearings at first and then eventually trials.

God, she had been so excited to work as a budding prosecutor and had prepared for this day by clerking for both sides of the criminal courtroom. She had done some internship time during her summers spent in Boston working for the D.A.'s office in a neighboring county and there was that stint she spent clerking under famed defense attorney, F. Lee Bailey which she had enjoyed very much. But when she arrived back to her home town, she felt that she would finally be benefiting from the fruition of years of hard work and no small degree of sacrifices.

Until she started her first week working for Jack.

If she had expected that the working environment to have changed since her earlier stint working there, she had been mistaken. The same draconian paralegal assigned her case load and watched her like a hawk and Jack still rarely showed and this time, left with a string of different women, none of them local. And not long after that the trouble began…

C.J. snapped her eyes back open and noticed the room beginning to darken slightly. She stretched, wondering if she had drifted off to sleep while she had been thinking. Suddenly, she heard someone knock on the door.

"It's Houston," a masculine voice said from the other side.

"Come on in," she said and the door opened and sure enough there he stood, dressed in his favorite uniform of faded jeans and an even more faded blue shirt that now appeared more grey.

His hair was damp and she could smell the cologne which he favored. One of her favorite scents in the world as it turned out.

"How are you doing," he asked her.

She patted the bed for him to join her and he did that. She knew she didn't have to ask him twice. He wrapped his arms around her and she laid her head on his chest.

"I don't know," she said, "This is happening so fast and I'm just trying to slow it down."

He stroked her hair and she closed her eyes again.

"C.J., we're going to find out who really killed him."

She turned to look at his face.

"How are we going to do that," she said, "He's been dead for some time. There's very little forensic evidence and what there is, is damaging."

Matt sighed. They still had no idea how the sheriff had tied Dylan and his murder to C.J. Rusty had promised to aggressively research that but as of now, no answers.

"You didn't kill him."

No she hadn't, C.J. thought, though there had been times when she had wanted to do it. Back when she had last been here. Matt hadn't yet arrived back in town then, he hadn't really had much contact with Dylan as far as she knew. Not like she did.

Matt didn't miss C.J.'s silence but didn't know how to read it. He knew that there were portions of her life in Wild Fork that she hadn't told him about just like there were chapters of his life namely those where he had served in the military that he didn't share with many people.

"C.J…is there anything you need to tell me about Cade?"

She remained silent for only a moment later and then shook her head.

"I don't want to think about that right now," she said, "I just want to lay here and relax for a little while. You think you can handle that?"

She felt his grip on her tighten and he twisted her face towards his, brushing his lips against her mouth. And she just enjoyed it and him, knowing that it had taken them so long to get to this point. After they kissed, she settled back on his chest which felt warm and so safe and closed her eyes.

* * *

The office had been filled with darkness when she had turned the key to walk inside it. Just a couple of minutes to get her jacket which she had forgotten and then she would leave to go meet Alexis at the beauty shop where she worked as a stylist. As she rummaged around her office, she heard voices coming from outside of it. What sounded like two men talking.

"I want more money Jack," a familiar voice said, "And I know you have it, so let's just say the price has gone up."

"You're bluffing," her boss said smoothly, "You don't have any such documents because they don't exist."

C.J. heard a man rebut that claim and then the sound of something being unzipped, like a bag.

"As you can see now, you're wrong Jack," the man said, "And there's plenty more where these came from and even more copies of them in a safe place."

A long pause followed as C.J. sat completely still, stunned by what she was hearing.

"You're never going to be able to rise up in the ranks," Jack said, "You don't have the brains even if you do have the balls and you need both in this world."

"I'll keep that in mind," the man said, "I'll be in touch…"

And not long after that, she heard a door slam as Jack shut himself in an office and footsteps walking past her to where another door open and shut which she guessed meant that the mystery blackmailer she guessed, had taken his exit. She finally found her jacket on a chair and quietly walked out of the office into the lobby, so sure that her thudding heartbeat would betray her presence.

* * *

She woke up and looked to see Matt stir beside her.

"What time is it," she asked him.

"Almost time for dinner," he said, sitting up.

The room had grown a bit darker and she knew that the sun had set an hour or so ago. Still at this time of year, the day's heat would linger in the air for a while along with a fair dose of humidity.

They walked to the kitchen where Roy worked with a woman to prepare the dinner, which was a pretty impressive array of ribs, roasted potatoes and some freshly strung beans, mixed with miniature onions.

"It smells delicious," C.J. said.

Matt agreed but he remembered that his uncle had always loved to cook, much more than did Flo who preferred gardening. He had spent many evenings as a young boy staying for dinner at his uncle's and that he and Will had often helped with the cooking and especially the sampling of any desserts which had to be done before they were suitable to be served after a meal. And on Sundays, he would visit for lunch and spend hours working off the food by running around the ranch or riding horses. His father had never come with him because the two brothers had remained estranged for reasons that Matt hadn't really understood as a little boy.

They ate together and discussed mostly experiences they had shared while Matt and C.J. had been growing up and of course Will.

"I always loved it here," Matt said, nursing a Scotch, "Will and I spent hours fishing by the creek when we were younger and we'd come back and we'd clean the fish and then Jim the cook would fry them up for us."

Roy nodded.

"I remember that," C.J. said, "I also remember that two boys tried to put a small fish down my shirt."

Matt raised a brow.

"Must have been Will's idea."

C.J. looked at them both thoughtfully.

"A lot of my memories were good growing up here," she said, "Not all of them but quite a few and most of them you and Will."

"My son will be moving out here some day with his family," he said, "and work this ranch so he can pass on down."

Matt looked at his uncle.

"Sometimes, I wish my daddy hadn't sold his spread," he said, "But his health wasn't very good towards the end of his life."

"He thought he was making the right decision, Matlock," Roy said.

"I guess Bo and Lamar are working for you then," Matt said.

The two ranch hands had flirted with ranching in L.A. for a while but had eventually headed back to their homestead of Texas after Bo had nearly been blown up by a bomb meant for Matt that had been hidden inside a birthday present. Matt hadn't really blamed them though he missed the two men he had known most of his life.

"They're living in the bunkhouse," Roy said, "They've really helped enormously with getting this ranch back on its feet."

C.J. pushed her plate away.

"This was the best meal I've had in a while," she said, her voice dropping off.

"C.J., you're going to have plenty more barbecue," Matt said, "You're going to get cleared and get these ridiculous charges dropped."

She nodded.

"I know you're really going to try and I'm certainly going to do what I need to do," she said, "but there's so much we don't know about what's going on with the investigation."

"We're going to have to get a copy of that investigative file," Roy told them.

Matt agreed.

"She has a right to review the evidence against her," he said, "I suspect there's not really much to it and they don't want us to know how weak their case really is on paper."

"What about Jack Prescow," Roy asked, "Your father used to be good friends with his father."

"That was his father," Matt said, "I heard his son is an entirely different situation altogether. He's much more politically ambitious from how it looks."

C.J. knew that had always been a quality that described him.

"He's always running for office as I remember," she said, "Even when I clerked for him."

"I hope he's not going to be using this case as political fodder to ensure his election," Roy said, "That's been done before…including by him."

"I might go have a talk with him," Matt said, "Just to catch up, since our fathers were fishing buddies."

C.J. half listened to them, wondering what the next day would hold. She felt as if her life which had been moving forward had suddenly been placed in hold. For how long, she didn't know. But for now, it just didn't seem to be her own.

* * *

They stood by her bedroom door where they said goodnight. Matt had promised her that they would leave bright and early to try to find out more about the investigation that the sheriff's department had launched against her.

And then he had kissed her, wrapping his arms around her which she returned in kind. She really loved kissing him; his mouth felt intoxicating on hers and how his hands felt on her back as they pulled her close her to him.

"Houston…"

He broke his kiss and that brow rose again.

"What…"

"You feel so damn good right now," she sighed.

But…he heard it in her voice even though the expression in her eyes heated his blood which didn't need much help. He smiled back at her and then did these fantastic moves with his fingers as they migrated away from her back and toward her hips.

"You always feel good," he said, "I just don't know why it took me this long to figure that out."

She shrugged in his embrace.

"You've always been slow on the take as I recall," she said, softly, "You really should have figured it out a long time ago."

And that made him blush down to the roots of his hair. She just chuckled, knowing that it wasn't easy to elicit that response in Matt but she knew what to say. He reached over to nudge a tendril of her hair off of her face and looked directly in her eyes.

"Best weekend of my life," he said.

By his tone, she knew he meant it. And she agreed with that, and that when it came to impulsive decisions, that should have taught her to engage in them. Only after that, life had tossed her some blows which had spurred her towards caution. That part of her still remained, even though she stood before Matt and knew what she wanted, more than she had ever known. But she didn't want to rush anything…the memory would just have to suffice for a while longer.

"Mine too," she said, "but I meant what I said. I want us to find our way there first, to take some time."

He nodded.

"That's fine with me," he said, "I'd never push you to do something you didn't want or weren't ready to do."

She smiled and kissed him, longer this time and man, another reminder to Matt of what he had been missing for so long. The perfect woman for him had been hiding in plain sight. Then they broke, to catch their breath.

"Good night Houston," she said, before she slipped inside her bedroom.

He stood there for a while, thinking of what lay ahead of them and how difficult that would prove to be, to clear her name from the murder charge. And then he remembered the woman who had just left him, the memory of her on his lips reminding him of a period of his life years ago…


	7. Chapter 7

Another installment is up! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it and thanks for the feedback!

* * *

The lake had been as beautiful up close as it had appeared at a distance. Matt had pointed out all the highlights to C.J. as they walked, his arm still around her shoulder and looked at the ducks paddling across its surface, the ripples that appeared at various spots signaling fish and the small waves breaking on the rocky shores.

There were a couple of fishermen trying their luck, including a couple with children but it seemed that most people were keeping out of the hot afternoon sun.

"Fishing's popular in the evening this time of year," Matt said, "When the air cools down enough to be bearable."

C.J. nodded.

"And it must be nice to just walk along the shore then too," she said, "It really is beautiful out here."

Matt agreed but then as lovely as the surroundings were, there stood C.J. perhaps unaware of her own beauty. As she stood there looking out at the water, Matt tried to remember when it was he had decided not to pursue her. Her eyes sparkled at things she liked and her generous mouth seemed ripe for kissing but he knew that she had kept him at arm's length for a reason. And as she had told him more than once that had been not to jeopardize their lifelong friendship, the most important relationship in her life.

He had agreed because face it, he had greatly enjoyed sampling the different women in whatever environment he found himself. Whether that was in a rustic, backwoods town like Wild Fork where the pickings were familiar but slim or when he played football at Rice University and had a much larger pool of beautiful and willing women to choose from whenever he wanted. His exploits hadn't been legendary like those involving other players but he had never been lonely.

"Where do you want to have dinner tonight," C.J. asked suddenly.

"There's a nice club that serves food in town," Matt said, "just a short distance from here. They've got some great fish if I remember."

She nodded.

"That sounds great…"

He pulled her closer without realizing it but she didn't mind. Hardly, she leaned closer into him as well, really enjoying this time they spent together.

"Then that's a plan," he said, "And then maybe tomorrow we can do some fishing."

She smiled at that.

"Maybe we could find a boat and go out in the lake," she said.

He brightened.

"There's an island out where the lake bends," he said, "We could try our luck there."

She thought about it.

"Is it busy out there?"

"My father took me out there," Matt said, "It's pretty quiet and the fishing's great. We can make a fire and cook anything we catch."

Her eyes flashed in mischief.

"Anything I catch," she corrected, "I'm much better at this fishing than you."

"We'll just have to see about that."

They headed back to the cabin to get ready for dinner. She hit the couch again and told him he could shower first.

"Are you sure you're okay with tonight," C.J. asked, "We could go separately in case you meet someone you want to leave with."

He threw her a strange look.

"Why would I want to leave with someone?"

She rolled her eyes at having to explain it to him.

"You're going to be going into the military in a week," she said, "This might be your last chance to kick up those cowboy boots and have some fun."

His brow rose.

"And we haven't been having fun?"

Her face grew a little pink.

"Well not your kind of fun…"

He rested against a wall and just looked at her.

"Is that an invitation?"

She looked at him taken aback and he suppressed a smile. He wondered if she realized how pretty she looked right now even as embarrassment lurked just below her surface.

"No…just an observation," she said, "We already decided not to go down this road."

"So we could stay best friends," Matt finished, "and not mess up the great thing we've got going."

She nodded.

"Something like that."

He sighed.

"Well now that we've got that settled, I'll tell you what…"

She looked at him expectantly.

"We'll just go out and have a good time together and then we'll come back here together," Matt said, "Contrary to what you might think, that's more than enough for me. I don't think I can handle anymore than that tonight."

She tilted her head.

"Really, are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Matt smiled.

"I feel just fine, thanks for asking."

She looked at him for a moment as if she wanted to throw something at him. Fire lit up her hazel eyes, emphasizing the emerald within them and her mouth remained pursed. Matt didn't wonder that any man would have his hands filled with her but he could only imagine the rewards. He quickly reined those thoughts in remembering what she had just said.

"Okay, but I just wanted you to know you can keep your options open," she said, "Now I believe you better run along and take that shower…and don't take up all the hot water."

He shrugged.

"There's room enough for the both of us…then you don't have to worry about that."

He read the expression on her face and knew he'd best be heading off by himself, but then he had been joking after all. He didn't know why just that he liked seeing her reaction to his comments, those more visceral before her defenses rose again. And what he saw now told him that for a split second, she had envisioned what he had, which brought a rosier hue to her tanned complexion. He smiled to himself as he left the living room.

C.J. shook her head after he left, knowing that she shouldn't let his teasing get to her, knowing that if she did, he would just keep doing it. Only she didn't really mind it that much because as long as he did it…there was hope. Oh she really had to stop thinking like that. He teased her because he had been denied access to his usual supply of women since he had been traveling on the road with her from town to town, never staying long enough to be able to sample the local population. When he returned to Wild Fork in the short time he had left, he'd more than make up for lost time.

She'd really miss him when they took off to follow their separate paths in life. Sure, once she settled into her new life in Boston and focused on the demands of her legal education, she wouldn't have much time to think about him. During the few moments of each day and during the nights, her mind would wander towards him, her heart praying for his safety. The country wasn't at war but that could quickly change in a heartbeat. Matt's uncle Roy who seemed to have a handle on the pulse of what happened around the world, a lot more than expected for a retiree, had seemed concerned about the state of the world, as if something were about to break the peace, even shatter it in a million pieces. Warning Matt to be careful during his military service, to be ready for anything.

And she had been afraid for him and for his cousin all over again. She had kept that in check while she and Matt had been road tripping and she bit her tongue whenever any temptation to talk about his military service threatened to pass her lips. It would accomplish nothing to talk about it and she just wanted to enjoy their last few days together and leave the world out of it for a while. Reality would intrude soon enough.

She leaned back on the couch and put her feet on the coffee table. Her uncle probably would be watching the baseball game on the television after throwing together whatever food she had left him together for a dinner. Not for the first time, she wondered how he fared, how he would fare when she left for Boston. He had entered into her life to take care of her when her parents weren't there and now she felt that she had to take that role with him. Matt had hired the ranch hands to help him out and that would have to be enough. When she graduated from law school and worked as a prosecutor, she would reserve some of her salary to him whether he was too proud to accept it or not. Enough of her tuition and expenses were subsidized through scholarships that she wouldn't carry a big debt when she finished.

"I left you some," a voice said.

She looked up and saw Matt wrapped in a towel, his hair damp standing in front of her. He looked impressive, his muscular build contained within the fabric. And per usual, he seemed unaware of the effect his body had on women. Well on her anyway.

"Thanks," she said, her mouth suddenly dry.

He walked out to get dressed and she headed off to the shower.

* * *

Dinner was great, the fish delicious and she and Matt spent the evening talking and laughing as they usually did. It had been so wonderful to have this week with the world not weighing down on them and time spent living from day to day and traveling where the mood took them. Their faces red, their bodies completely relaxed from laughing at the escapades that they had gotten into so far.

"I wonder if the police are still looking for you," C.J. mused.

He saw amusement on her face.

"I think they have bigger fish to fry than someone like me who's long gone."

She looked at him sitting there, his worn shirt stretched over his chest, the sleeves rolled halfway up his arms and his hands gesturing as he spoke. And for a while she had rested her chin on her hand watching him. Not that he seemed to notice, intent on trying to get her to laugh.

"That wasn't bad," Matt said after they were finished eating.

C.J. agreed.

"There's nothing better than fish you catch yourself, but this came close."

"We can catch our own tomorrow," Matt said, "and fry them right on shore."

"That sounds fun," she said, and then she looked at the dance floor that boasted several couples swaying to the accompaniment of a quartet of musicians. He read her expression.

"Want to go take a spin or two?"

She nodded and he stood up and slipped his hand in hers and they fell easily into a slow dance, their bodies molding together.

"This is even nicer than the dinner," Matt said, after a while.

She laughed.

"I guess those dance lessons paid off."

He squeezed her waist with his hands.

"I guess they did."

She rested her head on his shoulder as she rarely did. The scent that was uniquely her own reached him and her hair felt soft against his skin. Matt was an excellent dancer in his own right but then given his penchant for the ladies, that shouldn't be surprising. Suddenly, she felt him pull away a little and he looked directly at her.

"You move really well," he said, "You feel even better."

"Houston…it's just dancing…"

And then she felt his lips brush against hers and suddenly it wasn't anymore. Then just as her body reacted to him to draw him closer, he pulled away. Then she realized he had been kissing her as a friend, nothing more.

"Thanks for the dance," he said, and then taking her hand he walked her back to the table.

They paid their tab and went back to the cabin, heading to bed as the fatigue of the day's drive began to catch up with them. C.J. felt herself yawning knowing that she needed some sleep if they were going to get up bright and early to go fishing the next morning.

But as she lay in her own bed, sleep didn't come easily not with him lying in another bed not too far away. She sighed, pulling her pillow over her head.

* * *

They both woke up early and ate a quick breakfast before Matt had rented a boat for the two of them to take some fishing gear out to the small island. The lake appeared as smooth as glass, with only a boat or two in the distance. Matt drove the boat towards a row of trees which marked their destination.

"Houston, are you sure you're going in the right direction?"

He looked over at C.J. who sat on the side of the boat and looked at him, dressed in cutoff shorts and a tank top which accentuated her strong arms and her long muscular legs. A thin line of her midriff showed and Matt tried to not look too much at that, keeping his mind on steering the craft. Her hair blew off of her face and she laughed at his attempts to make it look like he had no idea where he was going.

They touched ground on the shore and once the craft was secured, she jumped out and ran across the beach up to a patch of sand which edged a row of trees. Looking out across the lake, she felt awed by its beauty. The sun baked the island but a nice breeze wafted through it, keeping them comfortably cooler than around them.

"I'll get more fish than you will," she sang to him as she grabbed her gear and bait and went to the lake's edge.

"Do you want to put your money where your mouth was," he said, "because I'm feeling lucky."

They cast their lines and splashed in the water trying to get the upper hand on the other, until they were both soaking wet. In the process, they each caught two trout and called it a draw before heading off to pack them in the chest and dry off in the sun. C.J. sat there, her dark hair slicked off of her face and her cheeks turning rosy from the sun and enjoyed the heat soaking through her wet clothing to both chill and warm her. She looked over at Matt for a while as he lay back closing his eyes, relaxing. He had removed his wet shirt and his body…she swallowed before looking at him and then scolded herself. It wasn't like she had never seen him with less than that.

"I guess we're both lucky," she said, wondering if he were still awake.

His eyes blinked and his mouth curled up in a smile beneath his mustache.

"I'd say it was luck that you tied with me," he said, "Another hour…"

She laughed.

"Oh spare me," she said, "I've out fished you as often as not."

Matt couldn't disagree with her prowess with the fishing rod that started not long after she had moved to the ranch to live with her uncle. He had taken her fishing once to get her mind off of her missing her parents and thought he would have to teach her…only to find out that if she weren't a ringer she was damn close. He rested his elbow in the sand and looked at her, sucking in his breath because while her shirt dried in the sun, it still appeared sheer meaning that…he stopped looking, well at least he tried to do so. But then the natural progression was to think about how she would look without the shirt in the way and the next…

"Houston…"

He thought she was going to call him on where his eyes had been focused. After all, she had done it enough times on the ranch with some of the rowdier hands.

"So would you like to go swimming?"

He looked at her, narrowing his eyes.

"You're not wearing a swimsuit."

She shrugged.

"Don't need one," she said, "I've got clothes on underneath."

That made him sit up.

"C.J. I really don't think…"

Too late, she had already taken her shirt off, displaying her sports bra and he relaxed…a little.

"What's the matter Houston," she said, looking at him funny.

He found himself unable to say anything.

"Look Houston if this makes you uncomfortable…"

He shook his head.

"It's not like I've never seen you like that before…"

Her brow arched and he felt the heat rise into his face. Damn, she hadn't known about the time…

She folded her arms.

"And when was this again?"

He just stared at her.

"Well that day…when you and…Alexis were at the pond," he stammered and she couldn't believe that Matt Houston, ladies man extraordinaire was even capable of having trouble spitting his words out. Her mouth curled in a smile at that.

"Ohhh… when I was dressed in less than this," she said, "Oh don't worry Houston, the shorts are staying on so you can relax now."

"Well I…"

The arms remained folded.

"Oh come off it," she said, "I'm not going to throw my clothes off and then go after yours. I'm not going to throw myself at you. Your virtue is safe with me, safer with me than with anyone else."

He smiled but in his eye shone a glint of mischief.

"That's good to know."

She focused her gaze on him, taking note of a chink in his Casanova armor.

"So what did you think?"

Think…was he thinking…Matt tried to think back to that summer afternoon when he had been riding his horse out to repair some fencing and had been out by the pond that filled with the spring rains until it dried up in late summer. He had heard laughter and splashing and had taken a look and what he saw had just about knocked him off of his horse. C.J. and her friend were in the water and it looked like…they weren't wearing much.

C.J. watched his mind worked and sighed.

"Look Houston, we were drinking that afternoon and then we fell into a game of truth or dare and we skipped past the truth and just jumped to daring each other to skinny dip."

Matt's mouth gaped a bit and she grew irritated.

"Oh come on Houston, everybody's skinny dipped in that pond," she said, "We didn't know anyone was watching."

Now he felt embarrassed.

"I wasn't watching," he said, "I was just making sure everything was okay. No one was drowning."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Well I'm going swimming," she said, reaching to unsnap her cutoffs and then looking at him, decided against it, "Are you going to be okay?"

He watched her as she ran and jumped into the lake, splashing and then entering her arms into the water in swift, sure strokes. After watching, he got up and joined her and when she saw him swimming towards her, she smiled and met him, both of them treading water.

"That wasn't hard," she said, finally.

"You looked beautiful that day…"

She furrowed her brow at him and then smiled.

"Really?"

"Really."

She considered that.

"Well what about now?"

He didn't respond to that just reached out to stroke her hair. She swallowed and her mouth quivered slightly.

"No…don't say it…"

He started to frown and then she splashed him with water and swam back to shore.

* * *

They dried off their clothes and Matt gathered wood to start a fire while C.J. did the messy job of scaling the fish and preparing them to cook over the fire that would turn the fish into tasty flakes which would melt in their mouth. She sat back and watched the fire grow and Matt place the fish in a skillet over the makeshift oven. The wind had picked up as the sun began its journey back towards the horizon leaving a trail of pink merging into the blueness of the sky. C.J. had brought a light wrap and put it on over her shoulders as she tossed Matt a beer from the ice chest and popped the tab on her own. After the fish was done, Matt slid it off the skillet onto some plates and they dove into it eagerly.

"This is delicious," she said, closing her eyes at the flavor of the wild trout.

Matt agreed and after they were finished eating, they sat by the fire and watched the tiny ashes blow up into the air.

"I'm going to really miss this," C.J. said thoughtfully, running her hand through her hair that had dried curlier and rested on her shoulders.

Damn Matt thought, he was going to miss her, did she have any idea just how much as she sat there watching him?

"We're both heading towards the times of our life," he said, "I really feel like my life will be beginning."

She nodded slowly.

"I know what you mean," she said, "I'm so excited to be getting closer to my dream Houston. I can't wait to get started. To move to Boston and see what it's like living in a city so different than any place I've been… and you, you'll really see the world."

Matt had traveled different parts of the world but not this way, not in service of the country which had born him and had given him a great life. He looked down for a moment and then looked back up at her.

"It's not going to be the same not seeing you…"

She sighed.

"I know," she said, "We've been together so long but we went to different universities…"

And Matt had missed her then and this summer had been the first time in a long time they had really spent time together and then they'd be saying goodbye again.

"You know I have a going away present for you," he said, "but I left it at the ranch."

Her face brightened.

"That's so nice of you," she said, then smiled, "I have one for you but it's right here."

He looked at her and saw behind the smile he always enjoyed so much, a hint of something different…shyness perhaps?

"Oh yes, this is the same one you've been hinting about during this entire trip," he said, "So when do I get to see it?"

She paused for a moment.

"You're looking at it."

No, he was looking at her, sitting in front of him, her face kissed by the sun and the lake and her body sitting relaxed across from him, close enough to touch.

"C.J. I don't understand…"

She shook her head at him, her eyes filled with different emotions, including one that felt all too familiar because it matched one within himself.

"There's not much to understand," she said, "I said you're looking at it."

"Looking at what?"

She bit her lip before she replied but her eyes never wavered.

"I'm your going away present."


	8. Chapter 8

I'm done with the latest installment of this story. I hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and for your feedback.

* * *

She wouldn't look at him as he followed her along the fence line of his uncle's ranch where she had been working all morning. He had been searching for her but she obviously didn't want to be found easily. His uncle's spread spanned across thousands of acres and he hadn't known where to begin. Roy hadn't been much help.

"She's out mending fences," he had said while chopping onions.

And naturally, there were several miles of fencing, all which needed fixing. But he had finally found her out on the far corner near the lake not too far from her horse. When she saw him, she just stood there by the fence and continued her work, focusing on nailing two pieces of wood together and not looking at him.

He approached her and she started walking away.

Matt grabbed her arm and she flinched, pushing him away from her as her eyes flashed anger along with other emotions in a kaleidoscope that he recognized from someplace else but didn't understand.

"C.J. what the hell are you doing," he said, even as he retreated back a step.

She took that step back towards him and waved a finger at him.

"Just get out of here," she said, "I've got this work under control. After all, I grew up on a ranch just like you did."

The same ranch in fact. But now the two of them stood toe to toe on another ranch some miles away on the other side of the outskirts of Wild Fork.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me…"

She interrupted him.

"Why I'm working here with Roy and not playing lawyer in town?"

He folded his arms, his jaw tensing.

"For starters…"

She just stared at him, anger stripping her of her words. But not for long, he knew and since he had arrived back in town, he had seen a wealth of that emotion in her eyes and through her body language. What he didn't know was what fueled it. He'd been angry too for a long time, furious with himself for letting anything bad happen to his cousin, furious with himself for picking up shrapnel while under fire that nearly took his leg. And angry at himself for no longer wanting the life his father had planned for him. But he had a feeling that whatever he had felt paled next to what lived inside his friend.

"Where's your fiancée Houston," C.J. said, more quietly though her body still shook, "Why aren't you with her?"

His fiancée was a model that he had dated in college and had fallen back with when she did a USO type tour where he had been stationed overseas in a war zone.

"She's in Austin, doing a photo shoot," he said, "then she's heading back to a job in L.A."

Curiosity overcame her anger for a moment.

"Why aren't you going back with her?"

He countered that question with one of his own.

"Why are you throwing your law degree away," he asked, his arms still folded.

She just stared at him, tears threatening one moment, anger welling in her throat the next, her fists tightly clenched, ready to fight or to flee she didn't know. But he had stood before her refusing to leave and she didn't know how to respond to someone not afraid of her anger, someone who had anger of his own.

"None of your damned business," she said, before walking away, limping slightly.

Walking away from her best friend and his judgmental attitude, when she had heard enough of that already including from inside herself.

* * *

C.J. woke up with a start, relieved to discover that morning had arrived at the same ranch, only years later. In this time, she didn't harbor anger towards her best friend who slept in another room. She stretched her arms as she looked around the familiar room that she remembered from years ago. The sunlight streamed through the window and the room already felt warm. This time of year could be quite hot in this corner of Texas and Matt had told her that Chris had gone to her house and packed up a suitcase of clothing for her.

She got out of bed and went to take a shower before getting dressed and heading towards the kitchen for breakfast. The shower woke her up completely and she threw on some jeans and a casual shirt before leaving the bed room. Matt ran into her into the hallway and she saw he had dressed in casual attire also. When he saw her, he pulled her quickly into an embrace, greeting her with a very nice kiss and she wrapped her arms around him.

Drawing him in hadn't been that difficult when she finally had decided to put down her defenses after a case had caused her to reevaluate her life. And she knew that her best friend had been a huge part of that life but she had kept her feelings about him to herself for most of it. As it turned out, so had he and now they were as they called it in social circles, dating. Not to mention trying to make up for lost time.

She pulled loose and smiled at him.

"I'm heading to go help Roy with breakfast," she said, "What would you like?"

He caressed her hair back.

"C.J. you've spent the past day locked up," he said, "You should really relax a little bit."

She folded her arms and that glint of stubbornness came in her eyes, the one that Matt knew all too well.

"Houston, I'm doing fine, much better and cooking relaxes me."

He chuckled.

"Since when C.J.?"

"Believe it or not," she said, "Roy and I used to do a fair share of cooking together when I stayed here."

His eyes became solemn even when he smiled.

"Okay…if that's what you want to do."

"Yes I do…I want some normality in my life so I can pretend for a few minutes that this hasn't happened."

She left him and went into the kitchen where she ran into Roy who stood next to his island preparing ingredients for omelets.

"Need any help," she asked.

He looked up and smiled.

"Sure you can work on the eggs," he said, "I put out enough for the three of us."

She cracked them placing the contents in the bowl, happy to keep busy.

"Where are you and Matlock going to do today," Roy asked, "Meet with the attorney?"

C.J. nodded.

"He's going to try to find out more about the investigation," she said, "but he's not sure he'll have much luck until the official arraignment."

She whisked the eggs in the bowl while Roy prepared to add the ingredients.

"I won't know what they have," she said, "besides Nadine's statement and she never liked me even when I tried to help her."

"She wasn't ready to see what she really married," Roy said, "Too many young women fall in the same trap."

C.J. poured the omelet mixture in the skillet.

"She knew," C.J. said, "She just didn't care what he did as long as he paid attention."

Roy popped some bread in the toaster.

"Do you think she might have anything to do with his death," he asked.

C.J. had given that a lot of thought, since she first had been arrested. When she thought of a list of suspects, the list hadn't been all that short. Dylan hadn't made many friends in Wild Fork during his stints there. But who killed him and why did the sheriff's investigation state that the evidence pointed towards her as the only suspect?

"I don't know," she said, "She backed him no matter what he did and she always went back home…Even after that night."

Roy remembered.

"And he disappeared not long after she returned," he asked.

Matt walked into the kitchen and C.J. looked up at him before she could answer.

"Do you need any help," he asked.

She smiled at him.

"You can get some plates," she said, "and some silverware on the breakfast room table."

Matt did that and added some glasses.

"After breakfast, I'd better call Rusty," she said, "He's coming into Wild Fork today, hopefully with more information."

The three of them took their plates of food to the table.

"Hopefully he'll have a list of other suspects," Matt said.

C.J. stopped eating a moment.

"I don't think so Houston," she said, "If they arrested me, they don't have anyone else."

"What about Nadine," Matt asked.

She looked at him strangely.

"We were just talking about her," she said, "They fought a lot up to the time he disappeared. That's why most people thought he left town to get away from her."

"I never could figure out why they got together," Matt said.

C.J. raised a brow.

"Because she didn't stick around and wait for you," she said, "I'm not sure what she saw in him either but clearly she saw something."

Nadine had been married by the time C.J. had graduated from Harvard Law School and had returned back to town to handle her uncle's estate when he died not longer after her graduation. At first she had planned to work in Boston for a while but when she had come back to close one chapter of her life, she had wound up staying longer than she had anticipated. And she had soon found herself back working for Jack.

When Matt had encountered Nadine when he had returned to Wild Fork, she had been married to Dylan but he had disappeared by that time. Matt remembered that she had made a play for him after she had too much to drink when he had shown up one night at the Wrangler to shoot some pool with an old friend. And while she had tried to drape herself over him, he had quickly put her in her place. But she had been persistent even when Matt told her he was engaged to Christina. Nadine had asked him where his fiancée was hiding but Christina hadn't accompanied him back to Texas because she had been doing a series of cover shoots for some of the top women's fashion magazines in the country.

Nadine and her flirtatious attitude towards Matt indicated to him that she didn't seem to miss her errant husband all that much and now that five years later Matt knew he was dead, her behavior could have taken on a whole new meaning.

They finished breakfast and C.J. called up Rusty who was on his way to Wild Fork to pick up some files and he could meet with them in the local diner in about an hour.

"We'd better get going," C.J. said, "Rusty's got to head back to the city this afternoon."

The two of them left the house and walked towards the car. C.J. looked around her, marveled at the ranch that didn't look much different than it had years earlier.

"It's really beautiful out here," she said.

Matt smiled.

"The hands did a really great job with this place since Roy's come to L.A.," he said as they headed to the car which would take them into town.

* * *

They hit what passed for downtown Wild Fork and parked outside the local diner, the one that both of them had spent a lot of time in while living here. The place looked like it had just emptied out after a morning rush and a couple of harried waitresses were clearing the table, when one of them saw the two of them and walked up to them. She did a double take.

"C.J., is that you," she asked.

C.J. looked at her and then her face lightened in recognition.

"Sylvia, how are you doing?"

The waitress sighed.

"Still working here," she said, "I got married to Ed and we have a couple of kids."

"That's great," C.J. said.

Sylvia looked at Matt.

"Aren't you…the Houston boy, Matt?"

"One and the same," he said, "It's been a long time."

She led them to a booth and poured them some coffee.

"What are you doing back in town," she asked.

Matt looked at C.J.

"It's about Dylan," she said.

Sylvia nodded.

"I know they found his body a while back on that old lot," she said, "The sheriff said he was murdered."

C.J. paused.

"I've been arrested," she said, "They think I killed him."

Sylvia looked shocked.

"You," she said, "How would that be? We all thought he just took off one night."

Matt looked at her.

"When did you last see him?"

Sylvia thought about it.

"I don't know if I can remember but I spent the evening at the Wrangler when he had been there looking for Nadine. He was very upset with her if I remember."

C.J. sipped her coffee.

"You remember that don't you C.J.," Sylvia asked.

She looked up startled and then nodded.

"I guess I do," she said.

At that point, she looked up and saw that Rusty had entered the diner carrying a stack of folders. When he saw them, he smiled and went to join them. Sylvia batted her eyelashes at him and poured him some coffee.

"So what's up," Matt asked.

Rusty paused, stacking his files.

"I went to the Sheriff's Department and I was unable to access the complete investigative file."

C.J. rolled her eyes.

"Surprise, surprise," she said, "Oldest trick in the book."

Rusty nodded.

"They're going to try to withhold it as long as possible, which means that maybe the case isn't very strong…"

"It can't be very strong," Matt said, "because she didn't do it."

Rusty sighed.

"But there might be something that they have that has some teeth to it that they might want to spring at the official arraignment," he said.

C.J. couldn't think about what it could be though the investigators had said they had evidence which definitely tied her to Dylan around the approximate time of his death.

"Have you spoken with Jack," Matt asked.

Rusty shook his head.

"I called and left messages at his office but he's been on the campaign trail," he said, "He's recusing himself from the case and having one of his associates handle it."

Matt knew that was because C.J. had worked for Jack when she had been younger but he wondered if partly it was due to the fact that he was running for higher office. Would prosecuting this murder case help or hurt him?

"My daddy knew his daddy," Matt said, "and I know his daddy wouldn't raise a fool for a son."

C.J. knew that to be the case also, as Jack had proven to be both shrewd and charismatic. But her last time working for him hadn't been pleasant and had abruptly ended with her departure not long after... Her throat felt dry and she reached for her water glass. Matt saw the darkness settle in her eyes and raised his brow inquisitively but she just smiled and looked away.

"I think that we should plan for the preliminary hearing," Rusty said, "the arraignment is just a formality, a chance for the media to get its photo opportunities but a case like this could be made or broken at that hearing."

C.J. agreed, knowing that the preliminary hearing proved the prosecution with the opportunity to present its available evidence to a judge and the defense could too, before the judge would decide whether or not there was enough evidence presented to take the case to trial or to drop it. If the prosecution's case was baseless, then it was highly probable that her ordeal could end right there with the judge's decision in her favor. On the other hand, the standard of proof was much lower than that used at trial and the case could very well wind up being forwarded to trial.

"Have they made any offers yet," C.J. asked.

Matt looked at her sharply.

"It's just the lawyer in me Houston," she reassured him, "I'm not taking any deal for something I didn't do."

Rusty sighed.

"Not yet," he said, "I wouldn't be surprised if they did at arraignment, maybe a reduction to manslaughter…"

"She didn't kill him," Matt said, "so she shouldn't serve any time for a crime she didn't commit."

She looked at him.

"You know better than anyone else how easily a person could be framed for murder," she said, simply.

Matt looked at her and remembered that month that had been stolen from his life a couple of years ago. When he had woken up one day in a cold sweat and had realized that he had no idea where he was and what he had been doing. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he had been framed for murder. If it hadn't been for C.J., Roy and others…he didn't even want to think about it. And the worst part of it was that there had been moments…when he had doubted his own sanity and wondered if he had killed a woman.

He just nodded and C.J. knew where he had just been and slipped his hand into his own, and felt him squeeze it in return.

"You wouldn't kill him."

And that's when she didn't want to look at him. Because she knew inside of her lay a part of her who knew how wrong that assessment was, that at one point, she had wanted to do just that to Dylan. But as she had told other clients accused or charged with murder, there was a big difference between wanting to kill someone and actually doing it. She wondered about Nadine…had she wanted to kill her husband?

"C.J…"

She looked up at both of them returning to them because she had been just about to slip back into the past again. So she stopped herself by addressing them.

"Houston, there was a time where I might have done that if I had the chance."

Rusty and Matt looked at each other.

"You filed that report," Rusty started.

"Oh yes I did."

Matt looked at her, startled and she shot him a look back.

"But it didn't go anywhere," was all she said.

He had followed her even further into the wilderness part of his uncle's ranch. Into the trees which grew thick closest to the stream, their roots penetrating into its edges. The sound of the water flowing through the labyrinth of stones towards the lake filled his ears as he heard her walk just in front of him.

"C.J…."

And suddenly he heard a branch snap on the ground as she turned to face him.

"Why are you following me," she asked, pushing her hair out of her face.

He just folded his arms and looked her.

"I just walked away from you," she continued, "and I asked you why you left her in L.A."

He didn't budge but then he could be just as stubborn as she.

"I asked you a question too…"

She threw him an exasperated look.

"Houston, I didn't give up on the law."

He ran his hand through his hair.

"You quit your job," he said, "You went to work at the Wrangler."

She sighed.

"Only for a little while," she said, "I needed some time away to think…"

"That's no place for you to be working…"

She laughed mirthlessly.

"That's funny coming from one of its most popular patrons," she said, "Besides I quit and now I'm here."

"Why did you go to Harvard and spent all those years working towards your dream and then throw it away?"

Oh how she really was angry, she didn't think she would control what came next but for the sake of their friendship, she tried to rein it in as best she could.

"This is your uncle's ranch, the man who helped raise you," she said, "He's out a son and his wife's had a breakdown. And he needed the help with the horses."

He nodded, digesting that.

"How long are you going to be staying here," he asked.

She thought about it.

"As long as I feel like it," she said, "I have no idea what I want to do Houston…"

He closed his eyes at the pain etched in her voice, pain which he didn't understand anymore than her anger. Nor more than his own emotions that had only grown in intensity the more he had tried to get away from them.

"And what about you Houston," she said, "You're standing right now blaming yourself for what happened to Will for no good reason when you've got Christina waiting for you out in L.A."

His face looked torn.

"Go back to L.A. Go back to her," she told him, "Forget about us here and go back to your new business and your new life. We'll just fine here."

But when he looked at her, even as the anger faded from her face to be replaced by a tentative smile, he found his feet even more firmly placed on the ground where he now stood.

"I can't do that C.J.," he said, "not unless you come with me."

She just stared at him in shock.

"I can't Houston…and you need to just…go."

And for the second time that morning, she walked away from him again.


	9. Chapter 9

I finished this latest installment of the strange FF story. I hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and your feedback!

* * *

Matt blinked his eyes as the two of them stood alone on the island. Shock defined his features at what his best friend had just told him. C.J. stood there, her hair settling softly on her shoulders and her mouth twitching upward into a smile as she read his expression. But his surprise soon faded when her beauty caught his attention instead and he suddenly wanted to kiss that mouth.

"Cat got your tongue Houston?"

He looked at her as she folded her arms and stared back at him awaiting an answer. But he didn't have one immediately. How could he, after the bombshell she had just dropped on him? Here they had been enjoying their fried fish dinner one moment, then the next… His mind still had trouble wrapping his mind about what she had proposed though his body didn't. Because after all, from her long, supple legs conditioned by spending a lot of time on horseback and out working on the ranch, to that lovely face, what man could pass that up and he was as red-blooded as the rest of them.

Still…he wondered if she had been pulling his leg…He thought about looking around for someone to jump out and surprise them with a camera but he knew they were alone.

"You just told me…"

"I know I did," she said, "Don't look at me like I'm crazy."

He smiled back at her, his eyes lighting up and warming her insides, causing them to tingle in ways that they had during a moment of weakness when she stopped keeping count of why she shouldn't be crossing this line with him. He sucked in some much needed air.

"That's not why I'm looking…"

She tilted her head at him, studying his face as he looked at her.

"Why are you then?"

He took one step closer and she held her ground.

"Because a beautiful lady just propositioned me," he said.

She snorted and her face lightened.

"Like that never happens to you Houston," she said, "It hasn't even been a week since that last happened."

He coughed.

"Did I accept any of those offers," he asked.

She shook her head. Because after all, he hadn't been nearly as…active with the ladies as his reputation had mandated that he be back in Wild Fork. Yet he didn't seem bothered by that, though she could see that what she said had stirred a reaction in him. But she was curious about a few things.

"Why didn't you?'

"I'm not spending my final week before heading off to basic with them," Matt said, "I'm spending it with you."

She ran her hand through her hair, and considered that. Of course, what came to mind naturally was that he had been spending it with her as a friend, in ways they had spent other trips they had taken together. Not that there had been that many, mainly because they were usually so busy and their circles ran differently.

"It's been a great week and I've loved just taking off with you and not thinking so much where to go" she said, "It's just been missing something."

Now that she had dropped her invite in his court, she felt unsure how to proceed. She just studied his face to see if it would betray anything he didn't want her to see but he remained focused on her and what she saw there, she liked.

Matt heard her words, weighed his own carefully because he felt like he were suddenly in a minefield. His friends would laugh at him if they knew what ran in his head. The great stud of South-western Texas at a loss for words in the presence of an attractive woman. But she was more than that to him, not that his friends understood that either except maybe his cousin, Will. To most of the men of Wild Fork, women weren't in the same category as men but were there for men to enjoy when they were being waited on by them. But since C.J. herself worked on a ranch from sunup to sundown as hard as any man and alongside them, she broke some of those rules. And so did he, not that he gave a damn what anyone else thought.

Until he started breaking his own rules as the words slipped out of his mouth.

"I've had a great time too," he said, "But are you sure this is what you really want?"

Oh, she frowned at him then and he knew why. He had just insulted her and he knew she would never let him get away with it.

"Okay just forget it," she said, "Forget what I said."

She started to step away from him and he felt the distance coming between them that was more than just physical.

He grabbed her arm gently and she turned to face him and he said the obvious.

"It's a little late for that now, don't you think?"

She bit her lip but the stubborn glint in her eyes still remained.

"It's never too late for anything," she said, softening a bit, "Well most anything and I don't want us to leave each other for a long time without knowing what it's like…"

He tilted his head to look at her as she stood there, emotions swirling on her face in ways that he didn't usually see. She shifted her body weight and stared back at him. He wondered if her heart had started to beat faster too at the possibilities that crossed the mind.

"What it's like…," he prompted.

"To be close to you," she said, stepping forward towards him, "to do this…"

And just like that his friend disappeared for a moment, the girl who had grown into a woman when he hadn't been watching. The woman whose hands were as deeply callused as his own, her heart just as heavily guarded. In her place, was the fully grown woman with a figure that he knew would mold nicely against his own even before it did and who he knew could really kiss even before her lips brushed his own. In that split second, a wave of emotion hit him that he knew as foreign, in a way both exhilarating but more than a little unnerving. Matt prided himself on being in charge of his emotions and in his relationships with the women that he attracted but he lost the reins too quickly to pick them up again.

And for the first time in his life, he didn't want to be in control. Her lips were soft, pliant like rose petals but he knew he was being kissed by a woman who knew exactly what she was doing and what she wanted. Her mouth became more insistent, probing his own and he responded, wrapping his arms around her, drawing her close. In a second, she was going to know how much his body wanted her there but as for him…

"C.J…."

Then he lost his breath again as she continued her assault on his emotions even as she stroked his back with her hands, his muscles twitching beneath her touch. He ran his hands through her soft hair which rested on her shoulders and she responded by deepening her kiss. And that's when he knew he was lost, not wanting in the least to be found.

Finally she broke for air though she still tried to catch her breath while he struggled to do the same.

"How was that," she asked softly.

Words were lost to him, his mind had failed to grasp onto any rationale and any that it did find, slipped away just as quickly.

"That was…."

She chuckled at him, her eyes full of merriment.

"Nothing more from the Casanova of cowboys," she asked.

He sighed, but not painfully.

"C.J…I am not the player that you seem to think I am," he started.

She just smiled, the laughter still on her face.

"Oh yes you are Houston," she said, "But I don't care right now."

"I…neither do I."

Taking a deep breath, she just looked into his eyes.

"Look I'm not asking you for something serious, an engagement or even for you to wait for me in the military," she said, "I'm a realist Houston, I just want us to share something memorable with you that we both can take with us."

"C.J…you're sounding so matter of fact about this," he pointed out.

She shrugged.

"We're both adults, we're both single and free and what we do here far away from home can just stay here," she said, "If it helps, just pretend I'm another girl for a little while."

His expression changed then and she couldn't read everything that appeared but she saw one emotion that she did know very well. Reaching out to stroke a tendril of her hair, his skin brushing her cheek.

"I can't do that…not with you," he said, "and I'm not going to do that. I can't do that."

She nodded at his words, thinking the issue had been settled.

"Okay then, like I said…"

Then he pulled her close to him again, their bodies pressed together, their heat intermingling and he kissed her this time. The electricity which rose between them…well it knocked them both through a loop. Her hands went beneath his shirt to touch bare skin, her hands cool against his warm torso. His lips moved a path down her neck.

"Houston…" she said finally.

He stopped and looked at her, his heart pounding beneath her hands which still touched him and she tried to catch her breath.

"Are you sure," he asked her.

She nodded.

"I've given this a lot of thought in the past few weeks," she said, "And don't worry about protecting me because I've taken care of that too."

His eyes widened. Damn she had been doing a lot of thinking while they had been working together with him none the wiser. Just when you really thought you knew someone even better than yourself…well they could still shock the pants of you. He smiled at that choice of words and she returned it, which just jolted him further.

Now that this had been settled, she looked at him expectantly.

"So what do you think cowboy," she said, "Want to go for a ride?"

Ouch, her come on lines were worse than his own, she thought but she didn't want to stand here when there were better things for them to do.

He looked at her for a long time, taking it all in, her lips which still bore the mark of his kiss and her flushed skin that he wanted to touch so much he ached. Instead of answering her with words, he just reached for her hand and held it in his own.

"Come on," he said, "Let's head back to the cabin…"

* * *

When they came together once they made it back to the cabin, everything rushed past them and around them, as they fought to keep afloat in the current that had grabbed hold of them. As soon as the door opened and they moved into darkness, he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her into the bedroom. They kissed hungrily as they unwrapped each other, slowly at first but when their skin first touched, much more quickly as if they couldn't wait long enough, as if they'd already waited forever. He touched the body that he had admired from afar before he tasted it and she ran her hands over him, not quite believing he really stood in front of her. They wrapped themselves in each other as he pushed her gently on the bed and joined her, never feeling so alive in his life.

"Houston…"

She looked up at him, her hair damp and her mouth, warm from his kisses and he stroked her face gently, his eyes never leaving hers. He knew her question without her asking and in his own way, he answered.

"I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere," he whispered as they joined their bodies and at that moment, she knew their hearts had come together as well, beating as one. And she just held on as did he, while they did what came naturally.

He held her close to him afterward as their bodies still remained intertwined in the tangled sheets and the darkness still surrounding them. A trail of moonlight flowed into the bedroom, spotlighting them. She stroked the hairs on his chest as she listened to his heartbeat which was just beginning to return to normal.

Now that they had made love, she didn't know what to do. In her experience, men loved and then they left. Her father had died when she had been a little girl, leaving her with an uncle who viewed her not as his flesh and blood but as just another hand on the ranch. Dylan had dumped her not long after she had let him in her bed and the others…they hadn't lasted long either. And now looking at Matt, who still remained next to her, she wondered what came next for them. He would be leaving to go to basic training in a matter of days, she to law school and soon enough, they would be thousands of miles apart without her even knowing where he'd be assigned. She remembered that she had set the rules and knew she had to follow them.

Their lives which had been spent together now diverged into completely different directions. She would probably meet new people as would he and life would move along for both of them. Matt had met many women, had bedded quite a few too and had moved onto the next without looking back. His life in the military would only encourage that especially if he moved around a lot. She felt him move next to her, his hands caressing her hip.

"What are you thinking about," he asked.

She put a smile on her face and propped up looking at him.

"Nothing really…just how nice it's to be here with you," she said, "and that I want to enjoy it for as long as I can."

He remained silent and she wondered if she had said too much.

"Look Houston," she started again, "I know this is just for the here and now. I set the parameters myself and when we get back to Wild Fork, it will be like…"

"This never happened," he finished for her.

She looked at him conflicted after hearing something in his voice which sounded like reproach.

"No, not like that," she said, "I offered myself and you gave me more than I could hope for…and I'll understand if you feel like we should chalk this up to being a nice memory for both of us to look back on."

He stopped her with a quick kiss, the promise of what it would bring remaining on her lips.

"We can't do that C.J.," he said, "Because you've given me your…going away present, and I still haven't given you mine…"

She smiled at him.

"Oh really," she said, "and what would that be?"

He lay on his back, keeping her close to him.

"That we remain right where we are until it's time to head back," he said, "We've seen plenty of sights out there and I'd like to see some in here."

She shook her head.

"Houston, I was actually hoping to go hiking up to that water fall you used to visit with your father," she said.

And he remembered what he had told her earlier, and he knew she had accepted his own gift. He nodded slowly.

"Okay, we'll go…hiking up there," he said, "Pack up a lunch and a blanket and have ourselves a nice time together."

She could only imagine what he meant by that and his expression, well it spoke volumes. Whatever waited for them in Wild Fork and when they left it behind them…could just wait. The most important part of her life now was right here; holding her while his hands invoked all sorts of nice sensations in her.

* * *

When they drove back to Wild Fork a couple of days later, ready to face what lay ahead for both of them, she carried the emotions of everything they had shared together inside of her and she sensed in his own way, he did the same. Thinking back, she remembered the first time she had turned the bend after a couple hours of hiking up a series of switch backs and across several meadows and saw the water falls for the first time. When she watched the icy blue waters cascading down into the pools beneath them, she envisioned a much younger Matt splashing in the pools while his father looked on, enjoying a rare moment away from his own busy life with his only son. A most special place, to have briefly brought the two very different men separated by much more than a generation, together. And at that moment, she felt closer to him then, even before he lead her to a secluded spot beneath the cascading water. Even when he kissed her, after telling her some old legend about how if two people kissed beneath the magical waters that they would forever be united. She had laughed at him, believing that he had come up with it on the spot just hoping to get lucky and of course, played along with him.

Still, when she joined him behind the falls, she felt like the lucky one as time stood still around them and everything receded into the background except the sound of water hitting the rocks and their own rhythm.

As they headed back to the ranch to prepare for their lives ahead, events began to unfold in various corners of the world that would change the path it and they took forever. As they and others enjoyed the final weekend of the summer, they had no idea of what lie ahead in September 2001.


	10. Chapter 10

I've got the next installment of this FF story up. I hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and for the feedback? This story's got multiple threads at different times about their lives in this town.

* * *

After leaving the diner, C.J. and Matt headed to the car.

"That didn't accomplish very much," he said, as they got inside the vehicle.

She shrugged as she slipped on her seat belt.

"The DA's doing exactly what I would do in his shoes," she said, "which is delaying the transfer of discovery to get the upper hand for the arraignment."

They drove down the tree-lined street that served as the town's main thoroughfare back towards Roy's ranch.

"What about evidence pointing towards another suspect," Matt asked.

"I don't think they even thought to look anyone else," she responded, looking out the window as they passed Alexis' beauty shop.

C.J. thought about checking how her old friend was doing but it had been years since they had seen each other and the last time C.J. had been in town…had been so very different. Matt looked at her and read her mind.

"Would you like to stop and see her?"

She looked over at him.

"I don't know if she would appreciate that Houston."

He heard the wistful tone in her voice, and he knew how much she missed her friend.

"It might help us if she knows something about Dylan's disappearance," Matt said, "Something that got overlooked in this investigation."

"Maybe…I did see her the night that he disappeared," C.J. said, "and then there was the argument."

"That was years ago C.J."

She sighed as he parked the car near the shop.

"I wasn't the easiest person to get along with back then," she said, "You and I…"

"Neither of us was in a really good place C.J.," Matt said, "and I gave you as good as I got. Maybe more so."

She shook her head.

"No you didn't Houston," she said, "I was very angry…but it really didn't have anything to do with you."

Matt knew that now, even if he hadn't for a while back then but he still had unanswered questions about exactly what had been going on the last time they had spent time together in Wild Fork. And in the midst of the remaining mysteries had been a disappearance which had become a murder case with his best friend as the prime suspect.

They got out of the car and walked to Alexis' shop. C.J. gathered herself, unsure of what kind of reaction she'd see in Alexis' face if she were even inside the shop. Matt took hold of her hand and she wrapped his fingers in her own.

The door opened and a woman at the front desk with a streak of blue in her hair looked up from the magazine she read and both Matt and C.J. walked inside the shop.

"You have an appointment," the woman asked.

C.J. stepped forward.

"I'm here to see Alexis," she said, "Is she around?"

The woman looked towards the back of the shop, where the sinks were and called for Alexis. The woman that C.J. spent so much time with growing up walked out carrying a broom and dustbin to sweep up the excess on the floor around her station. When she looked up at C.J., wariness marked her expression on her freckled face and then slowly a smile curled her lips. C.J. hadn't realized how tense her body had become until she felt herself relax after noting that Alexis at least didn't look upset to see her.

"C.J., you look…good."

She smiled back and the two women remained apart.

"Thanks," C.J. said, "So do you, and your shop is beautiful."

Alexis looked around it, nodding.

"I was finally able to get a loan through my aunt to set up in this building," she said, "Business isn't exactly booming but I get by each month."

"That's great, so how are things going," C.J. asked.

Alexis looked at her a moment.

"Better than for you," she said, "I'm married to Brad who owned that ranch on the other side of town. We've got a couple of kids."

The one that Dylan worked at for a spell, C.J. had remembered until he realized that working with his hands under a hot sun for hours on end was beneath him.

"I heard about them charging you for murdering Dylan," Alexis said, "You know they interviewed me."

C.J. hadn't known that but the news didn't surprise her given her close friendship with Alexis since they were very young.

"I didn't tell them very much and some time has passed," Alexis offered, "But they asked a lot of questions."

"That's okay Alexis," C.J. said, "They're going to interview anyone that has any connection to Dylan and to me."

Alexis bit her lip.

"I never thought that all this time…well that he hadn't just taken off and left this town behind," she said, "Like others did and then they find him or what's left of him…dead."

Meaning C.J. and Matt who hadn't been back in the past five years since the last time they left. They had effectively cut their ties to the small town that had raised them both, moving on with their lives miles away in L.A.

"The land about to be developed wasn't it," C.J. asked.

Alexis nodded.

"We didn't think that would ever happen. It'd been left vacant for so long but someone wants to build there and the city council want to revitalize this town."

C.J. thought to be a joke. Wild Forks had never had a heyday but had always been some remote town in some rural corner of Texas. Most people didn't know about it and fewer cared but there had been idle talk over the years about livening it up, and sometimes discussions and planning whirled up like dust devils before the talk faded down again. But most people which probably included Dylan's killer had never figured that anyone would touch the land where his body had been buried and finally answer the question about where Dylan had been all this time.

Alexis folded her arms, looking at the both of them.

"Did you talk to Nadine?"

Matt and C.J. looked at each other.

"No I haven't," C.J. said, "She appears to be the main witness for the investigation."

Alexis scoffed.

"Maybe that's true if she finally killed him."

Matt frowned.

"What are you saying," he said, "That she wanted him dead?"

Alexis looked at C.J. before responding, something Matt didn't miss.

"She…he…they used to fight and then he'd stomp out of the house," she said, "except for the night that she left him."

C.J. looked at the photographs on the wall near Alexis' work station, photos of Alexis with Brad and her kids, with other women in different settings and one where she, C.J. and Dianne stood in front of a refreshment stand at a rodeo held in the fairgrounds on the edge of town. They had been dressed in their jeans and shirts with rolled up sleeves and had gone to watch some of the men including Matt compete in the bronco riding competition. If C.J. remembered correctly, Matt had placed second behind a ringer from out of town. Nadine and another woman named Shelby had been draped all over him after he had won that competition and the group of them had all wound up at the Wrangler.

"She actually left him," Matt asked, "did she return to him?"

Alexis looked at C.J. who nodded.

"After he went looking for her…she…she did return to him," C.J. said, "He disappeared not long after that."

Matt digested that. When he had known Nadine, their relationship if you could call it that had been volatile but then she had been like that with everyone. He hadn't been serious about any women back in those days and when he had returned, he had been engaged to Christina. Only one woman had captured his heart really and it took him years for that realization to catch up. Now he had to smile to himself, better late than never. But Nadine had hung around and had slept with many local guys and she had always partied hard, Matt suspected as an escape from other parts of her life. Her father had left her mother one night and had never returned except to send a line back to them that he had remarried and resettled in Dallas. Nadine's dreams of getting out of Wild Fork and going to Hollywood to become a star had melted not long after and she had become a wild child. Still, Matt couldn't picture her shacking up with Dylan who after all never stayed with any woman long after bedding them. But the two of them had actually married and yet there had comments made by Nadine to investigators that they had fought over whether or not Dylan still had designs on C.J.

Still there was a disconnect between the arguments between the couple and Dylan's disappearance and Matt had to find out why. Because he knew in many murder cases, the killer often turned out to be someone intimately associated with the victim and if they had a history of fighting beforehand then that might highlight Nadine as a suspect. Yet the investigators had zeroed in on C.J. fairly quickly and Matt still didn't know why. The lack of cooperation from the involved agencies in releasing their discovery over to Rusty didn't help matters but deepened Matt's suspicions that maybe they knew that their case against C.J. wasn't as ironclad as they claimed.

"Nadine probably knows a lot more than she's told investigators," Matt said, "We'll have to talk with her."

Alexis sighed.

"You'd better watch out for her," she warned, "because she's still single and on the prowl just like she always has been."

Matt smiled.

"Well I've already got one girlfriend," he said, taking C.J.'s hand, "and she's more than I can handle."

C.J. rolled her eyes at him.

"Don't you forget it," she said.

Alexis looked from one to the other, her eye brows raised.

"So you two…are together?"

They both nodded and she chuckled.

"If that doesn't take it all…not that you don't work…in fact I wondered why you never got together sooner."

* * *

Matt and C.J. had left not long after that and had headed back to the ranch. But not before finding out that Nadine lived just off the Main street in the same house she had shared with Dylan. She had gotten her real estate license and her turf covered a couple of the towns surrounding Wild Fork. House sales weren't exactly booming so that had left her plenty of time to drink. Life hadn't been kind to her in the past five years.

The heat baked the air surrounding them as they got out at the ranch house and headed in to get some iced sweet tea before heading towards the relative shade of the back porch, which looked out onto the pastures, some with horses grazing. Matt wondered if his uncle would ever consider packing up his life in L.A. and moving back to his ranch but he knew that Roy enjoyed the investigative work that came rolling into their office. But sitting back here with C.J. miles away from the city brought back memories of a different time, recollections dimmed somewhat by the murder case hanging over them.

"You like it here," she said.

He leaned back and wrapped his arm around her. She moved closer to him where she loved to be, more than content to just sit back and let the scenery pass before them.

"I always did," Matt said, "My uncle always made this home for his son and for me…when my father wasn't around…not that it made him happy."

C.J. knew that the estrangement between the two brothers which had stretched years had weighted heavily on him even as a little boy trying to keep both of them in his life. Matt's father had never forbidden him to see his uncle and cousin but Matt hadn't missed the tension that lit his father's features whenever Roy's name came up in conversation. At the time, he had been too little and had missed too much to be able to figure out what had broken the relationship between the two that time couldn't mend. And when he had discovered that his kidnapping and how it had been handled had played into, he had felt guilt about it for years even as he kept it hidden to himself. The only person who had seen right through his actions had been C.J. and she had let him know it. And then she had helped him work his way through it, although it had taken quite a while.

"They both loved you," she said, "What happened between them didn't change that."

Matt knew that now but back then…well it had taken awhile. He squeezed her.

"If they only could have reconciled before my father died…"

She put her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath it and trying to soothe the remnants of pain there with her touch.

"At least they reached some understanding," she said, "They never wanted to hurt you."

Matt took a deep breath, releasing much more than just expended air.

"So much happened here," he said, "I hadn't thought about some of it in so long. Been so busy with life but I step back here and it all comes back."

"I know," C.J. said, "I feel that way too."

And she had felt that, the memories and the sensations they carried coming back in a rush when she had been driving back to Wild Fork after having been released on bail. The days spent on the ranch working hard. The times spent in town with her friends and the week she had spent with Matt before they had gone their separate ways. Her mind had lingered on the final days and nights they had spent together, wrapped up in each others' arms and leaving the rest of their lives outside for a little while.

"Saying goodbye to you that day was the hardest thing I ever had to do," he said.

She caressed his chest with her fingers.

"You mean…"

"The day I went to basic training at Fort Ord."

She remembered that morning well, having risen with the sun to see him off. Both tired from having spent their final night doing other things besides sleeping. They had enjoyed the barbecue that had been thrown to send them off but during the fireworks show…well they had decided to go make some of their own. She had nearly begged off saying that he didn't need to feel obligated and he had silenced her with a kiss that caused the reasoning side of her brain to go a bit fuzzy.

She smiled then years later and Matt guessed at what prompted it.

"After…that incredible night we spent together."

C.J. decided to play innocent.

"Oh yeah…the music and the dancing and the fireworks…"

He stroked her mouth with his own before she could say anything more and when he finished, she had forgotten her train of thought.

"No, what came after but I think you know that."

Oh indeed she did and when she had woken up, still wrapped up in his embrace, his body pressed against her own, she had a thought…to tell him that she had changed her mind about walking away. That she wanted something much more than a memorable weekend with him to take to Boston, she wanted dare she say it, a future?

But she hadn't said it out loud as he woke up and the kissing started all over again, pulling her right into the sensations that came from sharing herself with him in newly discovered ways. Later, she had gotten dressed alongside him and had kept her feelings to herself as she said goodbye to him and watched him and Will drive away.

A chapter of her life closed; another ready to begin.

"I do and I did, in fact I wanted a lot more than I ever told you," she said.

That caused him to look at her closely.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

She looked at him pointedly.

"You never said you wanted anything more than the weekend we both took with us," she said, "And besides, everything got so crazy after we said goodbye."

The understatement of the year, he thought.

While he had enlisted into the army during a time of peace, soon enough events would transpire that would place the nation at war. Matt's basic training had been interrupted by news that terrorists had launched attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The regimen which the military tightly followed had come to a standstill and he and his cousin had gone to the cantina knowing that soon enough, war would be declared against some unknown enemy. He also knew as he stood with Will and the other enlistees and watched the Twin Towers burning on television that he would be fighting in that war.

He had done what many people did that terrible day and that was to call his loved ones to check on his welfare. His father had been stranded in Chicago after his flight had been cancelled after the air space had been shut down from coast to coast. Roy hadn't answered his phone but his housekeeper said that he had to leave town abruptly but hadn't said much about it or when he would be returning.

When he finally got through to C.J. who had been hanging out with Julia and other students after their classes had been cancelled, she told him that her friend had been tracking down her sister who had left to head back to L.A. that morning to start a new job. She had been stuck in a traffic jam and had missed her flight and much more than that, so she would be staying over at their apartment as they sat there wondering what world they would wake up to the next day.

All Matt had wanted to do was to jump into a car and go AWOL to see her face again, to wrap himself up in her arms and her words to hold onto her tightly and feel safe again, to know that the death and the madness that had erupted that day would retreat at least for the brief time they were together. To reaffirm life between them after living through a day where so many had died.

"I wanted the same thing too," she said quietly, "I almost packed a bag, got in the car and took off to be with you… but Julia, she stopped me."

"Will stopped me," Matt said, "I was on my way to the barracks and he pulled me aside and slammed me against a wall to talk some sense into me. All I could think about was getting to you, the only thing that made sense in a world that had gone crazy."

The two lapsed into silence then both thinking back to that day when they realized in the horror of what had marred a beautiful morning how much they had needed each other. But it had been much more than that, between them. But as life had slowly begun to return to its orderly fashion, Matt had been too busy preparing to go to war and C.J. had returned to her legal education burying herself in books and classes so she wouldn't worry about him and Will.

"I think…I loved you even back then," he said.

Her eyes stung as she looked at him, and what she saw in his own eyes. Then she chuckled in response, the wisdom of years spent living filling her at that moment.

"Oh I knew that I loved you," she said, "but that just scared me so much."

His brows furrowed.

"Why?"

She struggled with the words even years later.

"Because Houston…you had so many girlfriends being the town stud and all and that weekend…I didn't know what it meant to you…if it meant nearly as much as it meant to me."

Matt knew that it had been true, that he had played the field a lot while growing up here and he had enjoyed himself.

"It meant an awful lot to me," he said, "I just didn't do a very good job at communicating it."

"We were both very young," she said, "and we both had some growing up to do. But…we're not that young anymore."

He kissed her lips again and tightening his embrace and she responded, draping her leg over his own moving closer to him.

"You've definitely got a point," he said, when he could breathe again, "and now that we're together…"

Uncle Roy came out onto the porch and still tangled up, they looked up at him. The older man suppressed a smile before becoming serious.

"You've got someone who's called the house," he said.

Matt looked up at his uncle.

"Who is it?"

"It's Nadine…"

Matt and C.J. looked at each other wondering what would come next.


	11. Chapter 11

The latest chapter of this FF story. I hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and for the feedback!

* * *

"Hey wait up," a voice sounded from behind C.J.

She turned around to see a svelte blond woman bundled up in a long coat carrying a load of books walking quickly towards her, as if to catch up.

C.J. stopped her own walking and turned to look at her friend, Julia Martin who shared her classes with her as well as an apartment off campus.

"What took you so long," C.J. asked, "I know they posted the midterm scores but why did you hang out by the boards so long?"

Julia's cheeks grew pink.

"You know Lance…he was looking for someone to tutor him in evidence law class and…"

C.J. smiled.

"And you thought you'd sign him up before anyone else could get to him."

Julia tried to look shocked but failed miserably and satisfied herself with a nod.

"Why not," she said, "He's good looking…in an interesting way and he's a nice guy…and I'm not used to nice but I think it's time to try something different."

C.J. suppressed a laugh at a woman who had become her closest friend at Harvard in the six months they had spent there, struggling to survive the tide which had grabbed hold of them not long after they arrived, threatening to drag them beneath it. Law school had been tougher than C.J. had ever imagined but she enjoyed the rigorous pace of learning and the challenges it presented. When she wasn't working nights at a local restaurant to supplement her living expenses, she haunted its law library staking out her favorite carrel in the corner of the third floor near the Massachusetts penal code section. Her heart after all, remained in criminal law, she just hadn't picked her side of the fence yet.

The two women walked together towards their favorite coffee place to kick back with some of that designer coffee that C.J. had developed a taste for and to forget the law that ruled their lives and invaded their dreams most of the rest of the time.

"What about you," Julia asked.

C.J. looked at her startled and the other woman just raised her brows, awaiting an answer.

"What about me," she asked.

Julia sighed.

"You hardly ever go out for fun," she said, "You're either at the library or the restaurant."

C.J. shrugged.

"I've got to keep my job at the restaurant," she said, "and I have to use up whatever time's left to study. Harvard's kicking my butt."

Julia harrumphed.

"Hardly," she said, "You're just about at the top of the class and everyone knows it."

Yeah, everyone, C.J. thought. She had already been on the receiving end of some snide comments about the rustic cowgirl upsetting the proper order of Boston's elite. The laughter behind her back each time she had opened her mouth and her Texan twang had filled the classroom when called on by a professor. But by the time she had provided her answer, the laughter had stopped because as it turned out, she was truly inside her element at least in the classroom.

Despite her high ranking, she had never been included in any of the social invites from exclusive legal organizations which provided excellent opportunities for future attorneys to network with more established firms which would be a boost for finding a great position later on. Not that C.J. really paid much attention to that part of the Harvard experience, being too busy to study when she wasn't waiting tables to notice what everyone else was doing.

"I'm so busy studying to learn as much as I can and to improve that ranking."

Julia shook her head.

"C.J., you've got to inject some more fun into your life," she said, "Get out a little more and mingle at some of these parties. Maybe meet a guy or two and get some…"

C.J. laughed at that.

"What are you, my tour guide to the party circuit?"

"Well you know there hadn't been that many since well…you know."

They all did and since the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. that had shaken up the city, the environment at Harvard had been more somber, the mood darkening as if someone had flipped a switch off. Back during those chaotic early hours, C.J. had been so worried about Matt and Will who had been at basic training awaiting their assignments during a time of peace, which had ended in a flash. The next day, the nation had already been preparing for war and C.J. knew that soon Matt and Will along with many other men and women would be dispatched to fight that war on some unknown front.

The last time she had spoken to him, several months ago, he still had been awaiting his assignment as it looked more and more like the country would be declaring war on Afghanistan. She knew that Matt was where he believed he needed to be and was needed, but she still feared for his safety. And he and Will had been sent to fight the war but because their assignments were classified, C.J. had no idea where they had been sent.

But she hoped both were keeping themselves safe.

* * *

Matt sat in his bunk, in a building that could be taken apart and reconstructed inside of an hour if necessary. He had spent the morning working on some computer programming that would improve the ability of surveillance equipment to more efficiently transmit data back to the central databases. Even though he had been at the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan for a couple of months after some additional training in a base in Germany, he hadn't really seen any action but he heard it at night around him.

To him, the war so far had consisted of days spent in windowless rooms surrounded by computer equipment but that could change at any moment. As for his cousin Will, Matt had no idea where he had been assigned but he knew that he probably served on the front lines in one of the Afghan providences. The only communications that had been made between them had been brief exchanges on secured channels but he hadn't heard from him in a while.

And then his mind returned to her.

Matt knew that he hadn't talked with C.J. in a while, not since he had been stationed in Afghanistan, not even sending emails. But the secrecy of his assignment meant keeping a low profile even about his location and he couldn't risk anything getting traced back to him from anywhere. Now he knew a taste of what it must have been like for his uncle when he had worked as a covert operative. He had actually heard more from Roy than he had from his own father. Roy's connections in the world of espionage had provided him with access to information that enabled both Matt and his son, Will to remain at least one step in front of danger. At least so far.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the worn picture of her, standing there dressed in what else, worn jeans and a faded shirt, with a hat blocking most of her face but not her smile. The woman that not long ago had been in his arms, her body pressed against his own as they forgotten the world that would soon separate them. Now he knew that when they had walked away from what they had shared together during that final weekend, it had been to move forward in separate directions without looking back. But damn it, there had been moments when he didn't know if he could keep that promise. Thousands of miles away from home embedded in a foreign country at war with his own, he had often spent his days too busy to think about what he had left behind but at nights…when the heat that had baked the valley during the day had only begun to abate.

He would lie on his cot after spending some time at the officer's club drinking a couple of rounds with others and remember how simpler life had been back on the ranch in Texas. Spending his days on horseback traveling over the terrain to tend to the many demands of running the operation that his father had left in his hands. Then quitting at the end of the day, when the sun had begun to set on the horizon and heading off for some drinking and a couple of games of pool over at the Wrangler.

But his mind always returned to her, the final moments they had stolen together just before saying goodbye. The way her lips yielded beneath his own, the softness of her skin beneath his touch. Her favorite scents. He'd close his eyes just before falling asleep, remembering how it had been between them with nothing getting in the way.

Still in the light of day, he believed that being an attractive and spirited woman, C.J. no doubt had surrounded herself with men interested in her. After all, they hadn't made any promises to each other before departing and in fact, they had decided to just walk away from what they had shared as friends.

And this morning he had received a phone call from an old girlfriend from his days at Rice University named Christina Berenson who he had nicknamed Squeaky to his Rooster during the year-long romance they had shared while in college. He had been the star quarterback and she had been a sorority queen and they fell into their relationship naturally. Of course, being two very different people, it hadn't lasted long but they had parted friendly and while he had been working on his ranch, she had been making her mark in the modeling world hoping to save money and gain experience so she could follow her real dream which was to be a fashion designer. Matt had no doubt that she would achieve her goals, given how determined and focused she had been on accomplishing her list of things to do even if it meant less time spent with him.

She had decided after 9-11 like a lot of people did to reevaluate her own life and in her case, she decided to give back to the military troops who were sent overseas to fight at war. With a couple of modeling friends of hers, she had signed up to participate in a couple of USO tours to different bases or camps. And she had contacted Matt through some intermediary of hers to notify him that his base was next up on their itinerary as a venue for entertainment.

Matt had replied back that he would be more than happy to ensure a warm welcome for the troupe and that he looked forward to seeing her again. And he did, because Christina was beautiful, lively and knew how to have a great time. At times, he had wondered if they could have ever gotten their relationship to work out but figured that while opposites might attract, that didn't mean they could stick together.

Still, he thought as he went to the mess hall later on, it would be nice to spend some time with her far away from where they both come from and catch up on each other's lives. It would take his mind off of thinking about the woman he really missed at least for a while.

It had been C.J.'s turn to fix dinner and the night was perfect because she didn't have to work or head to the library so she had pored over the recipe books just before heading off to class, shopped at a local grocery when she finished her study session with some other first years and then took over the kitchen while Julia had been out shopping.

She had cooked some fajitas and then scooped them onto plates while they still sizzled and then she and Julia attacked the fixings before taking their food to the living room by the old fireplace which they had been using a lot lately. C.J. took over the couch and Julia spread out on the floor enjoying their food.

"So you really not going to that party tomorrow night," Julia asked again.

C.J. rolled her eyes at her friend who just never gave up at trying to fix her social life which she didn't think needed fixing.

"I've got studying," she said, "I'm going to be at the library tomorrow writing up some briefs and then I've got tort class…"

Julia threw up her hands in defeat.

"Okay, okay I get it, you're committed to being a Harvard recluse," she said, "but you're going to be missing a lot of fun."

C.J. shrugged before biting into her fajita.

"I've had fun," she said, "I've just been busy studying lately."

Julia scoffed.

"You've been studying nonstop since you got here," she said, "It's almost like you don't want to remember having a social life."

C.J. paused to think about that. Julia noted her silence and raised a brow at her.

"You do like parties…and guys," she said, "and you do know what guys and girls do when they get together?"

C.J. just shook her head at her friend.

"Of course I do," she said, "I'm just not interested right now. I'm too tired when I'm not studying or working."

Julia eyed her carefully.

"So when's the last time you've even gotten any?"

C.J. just stared at her.

"I'm not going to answer that," she said.

Julia sighed dramatically.

"Oh why not," she said, "I tell you everything."

"You tell me too much," C.J. said, "You have a much more eventful life than I do."

"You're holding out on me aren't you?"

"What do you mean," C.J. asked.

"There's a guy in your life somewhere," Julia said, "He's just not here. He's that guy…Matt that you nearly dropped everything and took off to visit…"

C.J. remembered that she had nearly done just that when the news about the terrorist attacks had reached them. She knew it sounded crazy but all she wanted was to leave Boston and head towards where he had been stationed for training. To run up to him and feel his arms around her and his body against her own while they made love, to feel alive again in his embrace instead of the numbness which had threatened to consume her. Now it sounded silly but back then, it had been all that Julia could do to knock some sense back into her.

"It's been ages since I've seen him," she said, "And it wasn't like that between us."

Julia snorted.

"Yeah right," she said, "That's not what you said that morning."

"Everything had gone crazy in the world that day," C.J. said, "I never even left Boston. And I don't even know where he is now."

Julia grew quiet for a moment.

"You really care about him…"

C.J. looked at her.

"Of course I do," she said, "He's my best friend."

Julia shook her head.

"Not that way."

C.J. pushed her plate away and sighed.

"Even if I did want more than friendship," she said, "It would never between us. He's not serious about the women he sleeps with."

Julia's brows shot up and C.J.'s skin grew warm.

"Ah so you…and he…did hit the sheets," she said, "I always thought so."

"Only for a weekend," C.J. said, "and then we said our goodbyes and moved on."

Julia's brows shot up again.

"That neat and tidy, huh?"

C.J. just looked at her friend and thought, not nearly at all.

"Well, okay then…if you and he aren't an item anymore," Julia started, "then you're free to find yourself another guy…"

"Julia I don't think…"

"Then don't," Julia advised, "Just leave yourself open to the possibility that another guy might light your fire like he did. And you can start by going to the party with me tomorrow night."

C.J. looked at her friend, hedging. Part of her wanted to unwind after a day of studying and have some fun. Okay, so maybe she didn't want another relationship but if any guy came up to her, she would just keep it light.

And it would keep her mind off of him at least for a while.

* * *

Matt and Christina walked around the base which had plenty of armed soldiers walking around and keeping perimeter. The sun shone warm, even in the mornings but being winter, everyone had to bundle up.

Christina had decked herself out in a gorgeous winter wardrobe but had worn the requisite combat helmet on her head. She had been set up with the rest of her troupe in the VIP headquarters but while both were busy during the days, with him working and she rehearsing, they spent most of their mornings together. As the days passed during her week-long stint, he found himself being drawn back into believing that maybe they could try it again. After all, she would be touring the region for over a month and they could keep in touch. She definitely acted as though she was still attracted to him even though she acted aloof, which had been her nature even when they were together. After all, she had come from a more refined background and had grown up used to the finer things as part of her urban upbringing. Not that she hadn't enjoyed visiting his father's ranch but she couldn't imagine ever living there.

"The troupe looks like they're enjoying themselves," Matt said, as they passed the mess tent.

Christina smiled.

"They enjoy what they do, singing, dancing or reminding the men and women of home," she said, "but it's the least that we can do for them."

"So when you're done with your tour, what are you going to do," he asked.

She looked out at the wide span of desert land bordering the base.

"I'll go back to modeling," she said, "I've got offers from clothing lines in London, Paris…Rome…I never lack for work."

He smiled.

"It looks like you're closer to realizing your dreams than the last time we were together," he said.

She looked at him then and her face softened.

"Oh Rooster," she said, "I missed you so much, if I could go back…"

He sighed.

"You made the decision that was best for you," he said, "There's nothing wrong with that Squeaky. It's sure good to see you now."

She reached out and stroked his arm.

"I thought about you all the time…"

He studied her face and he thought she was beautiful in a way that reminded him of fine china, with delicate features and wearing her hair in a crisp bun, which defied the weather conditions. As long as he'd known her, she hadn't ever had a hair out of place…even well when they had been getting physical.

She reached for him and he put his hands on her waist drawing her close as their lips met, softly at first and then with more ardor. But while he knew he kissed Christina, he saw someone else thousands of miles away that he had to put behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Here's the latest installment of this FF story. I hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

When Matt walked into the living room of his uncle's ranch house and saw her, he almost thought for a moment he had stepped straight into his past. The woman who looked at him, appeared just as she had five years ago, the last time that he had seen her. Her hair draped her face in soft waves and a few crow's feet laced her face near her eyes and the dress she wore clung to her figure particularly in front. Matt remembered that dress well and that she hadn't been wearing it long when they had been together.

And the look in her eyes, a mixture of coolness and calculation, reminded him of her as well.

"Nadine…"

She smiled at him, slowly and savoring every bit of it.

"It's been too long," she said, "I heard that you had come back to town."

Matt perused her face, the trace of anticipation along with the predation in her eyes along with the smile which threatened to curl her lips. He knew she hadn't dropped on by to make a social visit but he had no idea why she did show up dressed to kill.

But he hadn't been the man she had known in a long time. Still, he smiled in return and offered her a drink, which she accepted. And so he poured all three of them Scotches from his uncle's cabinet. After he handed her a glass, he took a sip from his own and looked at her.

"I heard your husband turned up dead and buried in a vacant lot," he said, "and to think we all believed he had just gone off to sow some more oats."

A frown lined her face then and her eyes hardened just enough for him to notice that in front of him now, stood the real Nadine. The one that he had last seen before heading back to L.A. and his life there, after she had tried to lure him back into her arms. He looked at her now, wondering if she had known at the time what had happened to Dylan. At any rate, she really hadn't seemed to miss him in her life all that much. Not when she looked like she wanted to devour him when her husband lie rotting in a shallow grave. But if she saw that he wasn't taking her bait right now, she didn't let on.

"I think we know who's responsible for what really happened to him," Nadine said.

His eyes narrowed.

"And who would that be?"

Then Nadine did smile but no warmth shone there.

"Oh come on Matt, we all know who did it," she said, looking over at C.J.

Matt glanced over at C.J. who just folded her arms.

"I didn't kill him Nadine," she said, "You know in most cases of homicide, it's the person closest to the victim that did it."

Nadine opened her mouth to say something but C.J. paid her little mind. She had never been a member of Nadine's pecking order so she didn't feel like she really had to follow its rules. The only thing that they had shared was one man and then C.J. shot a look at Matt, well two of them actually. And both of them had wound up with the man they really wanted in the end or had they? But then Nadine never had been content with what she had not when she wanted someone else or more accurately what someone else had.

Still, C.J. knew that she had gotten her attention.

"That would be you right?"

Oh, Nadine didn't like that one bit and she put her glass down and placing one manicured hand on her hip, she tilted her head and sized up C.J. Not one to ever want to tangle with her because no one could throw a punch like C.J. but she wasn't above sending a verbal jab her way or maybe two. Now Nadine just took a deep breath and responded. She may have not had a law degree from Harvard but she had won back to back beauty queen titles in Laredo County so she could stitch a few sentences together.

"I did not kill my husband," Nadine said, "I loved him with everything I had. Sure we fought sometimes but what couples don't?"

C.J. thought back to their brand of fighting and it appeared that time had softened Nadine's memories of those days. And of one night in particular that she had never forgotten.

"You did more than just argue," she said quietly.

That stopped Nadine right in her tracks and Matt looked between both of the woman.

"It was just…words," Nadine said, shaking her head, "That's all. I know he loved me."

C.J. just looked at her and Matt saw in his friend's eyes a hint of sadness which disappeared just as quickly.

"So that's what you're saying now?"

Nadine's eyes flashed dangerously.

"What are you getting at," she said, "Besides most of the time we argued about you and how you tried to get into his pants."

Now Matt watched something light up C.J., which he recognized as anger.

"Is that what he told you?"

Nadine nodded.

"He told me you wouldn't leave him alone," she said, "That you couldn't get over the fact that he had his fun with you and was done years before."

C.J. shook her head slowly.

"It's more the other way around," C.J. countered, "When I came back, he wouldn't stop trying to get me to get back with him even though he was married to you."

"Oh I'm sure that's unbelievable," Nadine said, "Why would he want to shack up with you?"

C.J. had swallowed her words because as it had turned out that hadn't been what he had wanted at all. But she looked between Nadine and Matt, not saying anything at all.

Nadine sneered.

"You lying tramp…"

Matt stepped between them.

"Hey, there will be none of that Nadine," he said, "I think you'd better leave now."

She started to walk away and then spun around to face him.

"She killed him Matt," Nadine said, "I know that she killed Dylan as surely as I know that she did it because he loved me."

With that, she glared at C.J. one last time and then stopped and shot Matt a warmer look.

"If you want to talk, I still spend nights at the Wrangler," she said stroking his arm as she left them.

Matt didn't doubt that because besides the newer layer of bitterness in her eyes, she appeared almost as she had been the last time he had seen here at the bar and pool hall before he put Wild Fork and his life there behind him. But it certainly didn't appear as if she mourned the loss of her husband which surely must be fresh for her as his widow given the unearthing of his missing body.

"Not very subtle is she," C.J. noted.

"Never was," Matt agreed, "She hasn't changed that much since the last time I was in town."

C.J. looked down at her hands.

"She never liked me but these accusations she tossed out about Dylan and I…"

Matt saw the troubled look on her face.

"He had already gone missing by the time I returned to town back then," he said, "I missed all that came earlier."

Yes he did, C.J. thought but he had his own trauma to deal with returning home after fighting in a war that had killed his cousin or so he had believed and had left him wounded.

"Everything had just happened to you," she said, "You believed Will was gone and you were healing yourself. And I didn't make things easy for you when you were just looking for something solid to ground yourself."

He sighed, as they walked back outside to the back porch to return to their relaxation and their seats.

"C.J, that was a difficult time for both of us," he said, "you really did help me through it even if I never really told you that."

She smiled.

"We both wound up leaving town and heading to L.A. to start over," she said, "and I don't regret it."

Neither did Matt and the life they slowly built for themselves in their new city had reaped them both great rewards. They had built a major corporation from the ground up and had also created a highly successful investigative firm. Along the way they had met great people who had become close friends and lovers as well. But now an unexpected chain of events had brought them back to where they had started and they have to work their way through them before they could put this town behind them again and return home.

Back to where life would be waiting.

* * *

Wild Fork hadn't looked that much different than when they had last left it, save for the ground breaking on the lot which had inadvertently revealed the location of Dylan's remains. When Matt had returned to Wild Fork last time, he had been treated with some fanfare as a war hero and C.J. had watched him struggle with the accolades that he believed he hadn't deserved. She knew that for a long time, he had blamed himself for what had happened with Will even though he had been in another assignment miles away. Matt never could convince himself that he shouldn't have been right there with his cousin facing the same dangers. If he had not signed up for the military intelligence training and instead had been dispatched with his cousin, then he could have done something, anything to save him. With every military honor he had received, every medal that had been pinned to his uniform, only C.J. had seem that his wounds had grown deeper and for a long time, he tried to keep them hidden from everyone including himself.

Matt's fiancée, Christina hadn't returned with him but had continued working assignments as a high-fashion model while he tied up loose ends in Wild Fork. Only his visit back to his home town had turned out to be much more complicated than he thought. And C.J. remembered that a major reason why had been because of her. Because she had been keeping her own wounds hidden from him and everyone else until the day they spilled out.

She remembered the day that she had shouted at him to go back to L.A. and Christina and damn it, if he hadn't listened. Although she had tried to walk away from him, he hadn't let her get too far. In fact he had followed her and this time, hadn't grabbed hold of her, using only his words to persuade her to turn around to face him.

"What happened to you," he asked, "Why are you limping?"

She just stared at him, her hair hanging loose around her face.

"Nothing happened," she said, "I'm fine. I'm doing better than you are right now."

He pressed further.

"My uncle said that something happened, but he wouldn't say what."

Her eyes changed and she looked less angry and more something else, but Matt didn't know what.

"There's nothing to say about it," she said, "What's done is done…"

She sat back looking out into the fading daylight that surrounded them, and that lay between them and the horses grazing in the pastures, remembering those words years later. Wondering whether she had made the right decision by leaving them there in the past. Matt watched her for a moment and then he wrapped his arm around her shoulders drawing her close.

"Some things never change," C.J. said, nestling close to him.

"No they sure don't," he said, "Nadine sure hasn't a bit."

C.J. looked over at him.

"This was your ex," she said, "You and she were pretty hot and heavy at one time."

He smiled back at her.

"So were we."

That had been true, at least for a little while before reality hit home for both of them. After all, they had never come back to that point, at least not yet. He appeared to grasp that point as well as she did, as he used those fingers of his to lure her into a kiss. Not that she minded that in the least and when she could focus on him, she could forget everything else. Like his reemerging ex-girlfriend, the murder charges, life in prison and all that. She wrapped her arms around him and he leaned his body closer.

"Remember what it used to be like," he asked, in between.

She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah I do," she said, "I never forgot how great it felt to be with you."

His face dimpled as he broke into a grin.

"Never?"

"Well I didn't think about it all the time if that's what you're getting at…"

He brushed his lips against her again.

"What about now?"

Her face changed, and became softer as he cupped it in his hands.

"That I'm glad to be here with you," she said, "despite all this."

* * *

C.J. lay in her bed, gazing at the stream of moonlight which shone through the window as she tried to sleep. She had turned in early while Matt and Roy had gotten into a conversation about what Roy had planned to do with the new horses. She knew that Roy had wanted to return the ranch to its earlier state before his son moved in to run it. Ever since he had returned to the world from his years spent captive, Will had experienced a rocky transition back into a society that made more sense than the time he had spent as a prisoner of war. Perhaps the ranch would restore the missing pieces in his life as it had helped her through a difficult time in her own life.

She thought back to five years ago, when she had walked into the kitchen where Roy had been working on some stew to serve for dinner. Her angry exchange with Matt still stung her, but when she saw the older man standing calmly by the stove, she felt herself calm down. After all, he had lost his son and had managed to both mourn his loss and move forward in life. C.J. knew that both she and Matt had to do what he had done and find their own paths. He had greeted her without turning around.

"What are you cooking," she had asked, although the tantalizing odors which greeted her provided some hints.

"I'm going through the leftovers and making them new again," Roy answered, "Seems to be working out well enough."

She nodded in agreement.

"Smells great," she said.

"Are you hungry?"

She hadn't been until he had asked her and then she realized she had been famished.

"You and my nephew had words again."

C.J. looked up at him but his tone told her he had just made an observation. He never cast judgment on her since she had come to stay with him. They worked with the yearlings all day when they weren't repairing fences or doing the other chores she had grown familiar with working on the other ranch.

"He's been asking a lot of questions."

He handed her a couple of glasses and she went to the refrigerator to get some sweetened tea to pour for them. Roy added some more celery into the stew.

"He cares about you," he said, "He always has and he's been worried."

She bit her lip.

"Why," she said, "He's the one who blames himself…"

"For my son's death," Roy finished quietly, "He's got to believe that there's nothing he could have done. That life delivers tragedy to us despite our efforts to stop it."

"He's taken it so hard about Will," she said, "He has a hard time believing he can't fix everything…"

Roy remained silent for a moment.

"You mean with my son…and with you?"

C.J. glanced up at him from where she stood.

".It has nothing to do with me," she said.

Then she knew she stood behind her even though she hadn't heard him enter the room.

"It has everything to do with you," was all he said.

She woke up with a start and noticed that the room had grown darker. Her pajamas felt damped by perspiration. The fragments of what she remembered began to slip away from her as she became more alert. She got out of bed and went to the kitchen to make herself some tea to help her sleep and she found that Roy had stocked up his collection. Picking the chamomile mix, she boiled some water on the stove to steep it.

"Can't sleep either," Matt said as he approached her.

She looked at his rumpled hair and the stubble on his face. He had walked in dressed only in pajama bottoms, which made her smile.

"Too much on my mind I think," C.J. said, pouring the water in a mug for her tea.

He stood behind and rubbed her shoulders and she leaned against his chest.

"We're going to get through this," he told her, "It's going to be just fine."

She nodded, trusting him and it hadn't been doubt that had kept her from sleeping. Sipping her tea, she looked at him.

"I know," she said, "It's just that coming back to Wild Fork brings it all back."

"Brings what back," he asked.

"Everything…"

He pulled her close to them and hugged her tightly, and she closed her eyes resting her head against him as the stood in the kitchen.


	13. Chapter 13

This is the latest longer installment of this FF story. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for the feedback, and reading!

C.J. looked out the window as the scenery flashed on by her. She didn't look over at the car's driver who had been gunning down the highway like a speed demon for the past hour since they had left the motel that morning to continue their journey.

Julia sat behind the wheel, the scarf around her neck hiding the bruises from the medical tests that she had just endured for the past several days, tests that had confirmed an earlier diagnosis of cancer. She had left the hospital resolute and had gone back to the apartment that she shared with C.J. and had packed her bags while her friend had stood there watching. But C.J. didn't remain silent for long.

"Where do you think you're going," she asked.

"Out."

C.J. followed her friend as she tossed more clothing and other items into a suitcase.

"Out where?"

"Traveling, you know the way we planned up the coast to Martha's Vineyard," Julia said evenly.

"But that was before you got sick," C.J. pointed out, "You've got to go to the hospital and get treatment so you can get better."

Julia shrugged.

"I've got time to think about it," she said, "I need the time to get my head straight and I can't do it here."

"But it's just going to get worse."

Julia snapped one suitcase shut and started on another.

"You're not packed are you?"

C.J. looked at her as if she were crazy.

"We're not going anywhere," she said, "You're going back to Boston Medical…"

Julia shook her head, her blonde curls dancing.

"I'm going to Martha's Vineyard to my parent's bungalow," she said, "You're free to join me or you can stay here and stew over Steve."

C.J. folded her arms.

"I'm over him," she said, "I don't miss him at all."

"Okay then that's settled, get packed and we're leaving in an hour," Julia said, disappearing outside.

C.J. followed her to the front porch.

"Where are you going," she asked.

Julia headed to her car.

"To the store to get us some serious road snacks," she said, "I'll be back soon."

C.J. watched her go and she wondered if Julia was really serious about getting in her car and leaving this town behind her for a while. Maybe she remained in shock over her diagnosis and wasn't facing reality or she could be right and she needed some distance from Boston and her life here to discover some clarity.

And it wasn't like C.J. didn't want to leave Boston to get away and spend time on the beach soaking up some rays and swimming out in the surf. Maybe she and Julia could rent a sailboat around the cape if her friend felt up to it. She had a couple of weeks before she had to come back and begin her clerking job in Cambridge and some time spent kicking up her heels and temporarily leaving the life of the law felt most inviting. Steve had always told her that she had needed to loosen up more and become less serious about everything even when they had been…well she pushed that thought aside. Seriously he could use some serious improvement in that area of his expertise as well.

She knew that Matt would be on leave soon and have some time to spend back on the East Coast before heading back to parts unknown. They corresponded regularly at some times and then not at all during others when he had been placed in more sensitive assignments performing intelligence work. She had missed him an awful lot when she had time to think about anything outside the course load at law school which completely consumed her life.

Still it made her feel better to receive news from him when it came rarely and that from Will who wrote even less frequently. It made her feel less alone…and far away from home.

But at the last moment, she decided to hell with responsibility, she would take off with Julia for some time away from all that and have some fun, while keeping a close eye on her friend's health. She would talk to her and convince her to come back for treatment that she needed to live and she would return ready to start her clerking.

Matt packed his bag which rested on top of his bunk. His quarters had been tiny but neat on the aircraft carrier in the middle of the Atlantic. In an hour, he would be hopping on board a chopper and be heading to where he planned to spend his leave for several days. With luck, Christina would be joining him while on layover between modeling gigs in Miami and New York City. They hadn't seen each other in several months and he had been too busy to notice the time flying by until suddenly, he had some days leave to forget about being in the middle of a war for a while.

He couldn't make it worthwhile enough to go back to Wild Fork and besides, his uncle had been called away on some business of which Matt guessed had something to do with the war. Whether Roy had been drawn back into his clandestine life as a covert operative, Matt didn't know but he doubted that his Aunt Flo had been thrilled about it. Her life no doubt felt at loose ends with both her husband and son far away. Will had been assigned even closer to the front and appeared to love what he did, at least according to his sporadic emails.

As for C.J., Matt knew that she had finished at the top of her class after her first year of law school and her last email indicated that she would summer in Boston and work there until law school resumed in the autumn. He imagined her there working during the day for a law firm and then getting dressed up and going out dancing at night, no doubt making up for the time spent studying during the school year. And no doubt, she wouldn't be dancing alone. Another man's hands would be settling around her neck or on her hips, drawing her close to him as they moved in time to the music. He felt a stab of well something hit him suddenly, but then his thoughts returned to the weekend he would be spending on a bungalow on the beach with Christina.

While he packed for the trip, he heard his cell phone ring and went to answer it.

"So how do you like it," Julia had asked C.J. after unlocking the door to what turned out to be a two bedroom, one bath cozy dwelling, practically on the beach. C.J. knew she would love lying in bed at night listening to the waves breaking on the shore and during the days, there would be plenty for her to do to forget Boston.

"I love it," she said, "How long have your parents owned it?"

Julia crashed on the plush sofa.

"Since I was a little girl," she said, "We summered here every year until I graduated from high school."

C.J. wondered what that must have been like to have a place like this to come during the oppressive heat of the Texan summer. Some of the wealthier denizens of Wild Fork would flee the town during the summer months and head towards their chalets on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico but C.J. remained behind on the ranch, spending her days working in the steamy heat that shrouded the region that time of year.

"The only relief that we had in Wild Fork from all the heat was the pond," she said, "and the stream that arose from it. My friends and I spent most of our free time there during the summer."

Julia smiled.

"Are these the ones you went skinny dipping with," she asked.

C.J. nodded.

"When we dared each other to do it of course," she said, "Sometimes we attracted an audience."

Julia chuckled.

"We used to have the same problem," she said, "if you could call it that."

"Not as much fun as a waterfall," C.J. said, winking at her friend as she headed off to the kitchen.

Julia joined her there as they both dug up some iced tea mix in the cupboard and C.J. mixed up a batch while Julia brought them some ice cubes.

"This place is pretty well stacked," C.J. noted, "We won't starve."

"My parents just spent a week here for their anniversary," Julia said, "They always bring more than they can eat."

C.J. searched for the fixings to make some sandwiches.

"Are you going to tell them?"

"You mean about my illness…I don't know about that right now."

C.J. paired up the bread slices.

"They care about you," she said, "I don't really think you can keep this from them."

"I don't want to think about it right now," Julia said, "I'm here to have a good time…sit on the beach…do some dancing, maybe meet someone."

"That sounds good."

Julia sipped her tea.

"What about you," she said, "What do you want to do?"

"Just spend the days sitting on the beach and forgetting about school," she said, "Eat some good food and the dancing sounds good."

"But…"

"But what…Julia," C.J. said, "I'm here like you to have a good time."

Julia shrugged.

"There's supposed to be some great guys here."

C.J. bit into her sandwich.

"I'm not sure that's what I want right now," she said, "I think I need a break from men too."

Julia frowned at the thought of that.

"Was Steve really that bad?"

No, he wasn't, C.J. thought but he wasn't what she wanted either.

"Horrible in bed," Julia continued checking items off of her list.

C.J.'s brows shot up in indignation.

"Julia, I don't want to get into that."

"Oh come on," Julia cajoled, "I need some details. My own love life really hasn't been much since Charlie…"

A second-year law student from Michigan who had decided he didn't like Boston winters. C.J. just looked at her friend after finishing her sandwich.

"I'm going swimming…"

She went to find her bikini in her suitcase and went into the bedroom to change. The water they had passed on the way to the bungalow had looked inviting after a day and a half spent meandering their way up to the Vineyard. She ran a brush through her hair and then got a hat to put on her head, before grabbing her towel and heading towards the beach. And it wasn't just the ocean and the warm sand that had lured her away from the bungalow; it had been to get away from Julia's probing into her relationships.

C.J. knew her friend meant well but she preferred to keep the great romances of her life private. Not that there had been that many of them but she wasn't one to hang out with a pack of women friends and analyze them either. The only man that Julia really knew anything about had been Matt and that had been because C.J. had mentioned him in passing. But she kept that relationship including the interlude they had spent together closest to her vest.

When she left the bedroom, she ran into Julia in the hallway dressed in her bathing suit with a wrap around her waist. At least the bruises on Julia's arms had been healing and new ones hadn't replaced them yet.

The glistening water beckoned them in straight into its embrace and C.J. dove into a wave, surfacing on the other side of it. In the distance, she saw the outlines of cruisers and sailboats and people sitting on surfboards down the coast away from the swimmers, waiting for the next waves. C.J. looked over at Julia who had taken longer to swim past the breaking waves but now treaded water. A man, his hair slicked back talked to her as they bobbed in the waves that passed beneath them. Suddenly, C.J. felt someone surface behind her.

"Carl, is that you?"

"It's me," he said, with a smile.

He had been a second year student in Harvard's business school in the past year and they had bumped into each other regularly in the nearby coffeehouse. He had gotten his bachelor's degree in business and economics in California and then had opted to go Ivy League instead of getting his master's at UCLA. Still, it became clear that he would always be a Californian who enjoyed the Beach Boys and had grown up in the Bay Area.

"What are you doing here," she asked.

"I'm heading back to San Francisco for an internship in the summer," he said, "but I thought I'd vacation here first. I heard it was quite the party town."

She chuckled at that because Carl had never been the type of guy to party, being as dedicated to his studies as she had been with hers. In their discussions about their future plans, he had told her he wanted to start a new information technology company.

"Swim back with me and I'll buy you some lunch," he offered.

"I already ate but I'd like to try one of those clam sticks they're selling everywhere," she said.

He smiled at her and she shouted over to Julia that she was heading back to shore but her friend paid her little mind caught up in her own conversation with the guy next to her. C.J. swam in easily enough, slicing through the water with each stroke and let the surf push her ashore. Carl had beaten her ashore and she felt his hand brush her shoulder as he helped her to her feet. They grabbed their towels and headed to the clam shack and C.J. had decided that she liked Martha's Vineyard just fine.

Matt hit the bungalow just off the beach and headed off into the bedroom to change before hitting the water. He had arrived by helicopter at the airstrip just outside of town and had rented a car to use during his vacation. Christina had left another message on his phone apologizing for not being able to get out of an impromptu modeling job in Wilmington but would join him as soon as she could get away.

The sunlight hit him as he left the bungalow, and the noises of people enjoying the beach reminded him that he had truly left the war half a world away behind him at least for a few days. He ditched his towel and entered the water, swimming out past the breaking waves. Matt loved swimming, whether it was doing laps in a pool wherever he could find one, or in a lake or open ocean. While gliding through the water, his mind would wander away from his everyday grind, which intermixed with the hazards and unpredictability of his assignment. He thought of his close proximity to C.J. who must be back in Boston beginning her summer job. He had thought about calling her and inviting her to spend time with him before nixing that plan. Christina had never really gotten along well with C.J. the couple of times they had met up. They were civil to each other and very polite but so different from each other in ways that were difficult to bridge. And part of him knew he would get himself into serious trouble with Christina if he invited his best friend who he hadn't seen in nearly a year. Considering how they had spent their last time together.

He continued swimming to the next buoy.

Carl and C.J. sat on the beach, on their towels eating their clam sticks and laughing together. She had always thought he was a guy with a wicked sense of humor who hung out with other business students at the Coffeehouse but she hadn't realized how great he looked, especially since he had been crewing out on the river in the mornings. Not exactly a sport that one would expect a Californian to immerse himself in but she couldn't deny that it had provided him some fringe benefits.

"So you staying here the rest of the week," he asked, sipping his drink.

"Julia and I just got here but we've both got some time before we have to head back," she said, "We might do some road tripping after a few days here."

"I'm driving out to California after I'm done here," Carl said, "Might stop and do some camping in Yellowstone."

That surprised her.

"I never took you for the outdoor type," she said, "You are surprising."

"You are very beautiful."

She smiled at the way he said it as much as the words.

"And you are also very smart," she said.

"I always thought you were the prettiest law student I'd ever seen," he continued.

"And you're very nice," she said, looking at him, "and funny."

He raised his brows.

"How would you like to go to the clam bake tonight," he asked.

She looked down at her now empty stick.

"I thought we just ate clam."

He took her stick and put it next to his on the towel and then took her hands. She liked the warmth of his skin, the assuredness of his grip and the way he looked at her.

"It's not just the food," he said, "it's the atmosphere, the festivity of it all. There's music and dancing and everything else you can do on a beach under the moonlight."

Her eyes widened.

"Oh I like that," she said, "Count me in."

She looked up and saw Julia approach her with the guy that C.J. had seen with her in the ocean.

"C.J., so this is what you ditched me for," Julia chided, "Who's he?"

"He's a business student at Harvard named Carl," C.J. said, "We've met up a few times at the coffeehouse."

"Nice to meet you Carl," Julia said, "This is Stefan; he's from Norway on an exchange program."

C.J. shook Stefan's hand and took in his impressive build, understanding what had drawn Julia to him.

"Julia, Carl just told me about the clam bake on the beach tonight," she said, "You want to come with us?"

Her friend pretended to think about it.

"Okay, it sounds cool," she said, "but we're not going together and we might not be leaving together either."

C.J. just smiled at her friend.

"Okay, that sounds like a plan."

Matt lay on the beach after his swim, his body drying in the hot sun. He had closed his eyes and relaxed, but something caused them to open them. A sound maybe, that of a familiar voice from back then. He saw dozens of men and women dressed in swimsuits enjoying the beach, many of them recovering from the academic year that had just ended. His eyes widened as he focused on a woman, with wavy brunette hair and a strong yet supple figure sheathed by a bikini. Something about her struck him as familiar, if he could just see her face. She had been shaking sand out of her towel and conversing with a man with sandy brown hair and built like a linebacker. No it couldn't be, not the woman who not too long ago he had been in his arms, his hands holding onto hips not unlike that woman's, as water cascaded over them and around them from the rocks above where they stood lost in time.

He sighed and reminded himself that he should be thinking about Christina who would be joining him the next day. It should be her body filling his head and her that he might see in other women. Not the woman who had shared with him one special weekend.

"Hey Matt is that you?"

Matt looked up and saw his old college friend, Robert who had graduated with a degree in film making and had then taken off traveling around the world shooting one documentary or another in the years since. Every once in a while, he received a postcard from him while back on the ranch in Texas with words taunting Matt by reminding him a whole world existed outside where he had grown up.

"Robert, what are you doing here?"

His friend sat down next to him and looked out into the surf.

"I just left New York City with some funding for my next film and thought I'd get some R &R before heading on to the next location."

"Where you off to next…South America…Asia?"

"Africa my friend," Robert answered, "Nairobi and then Tanzania to go on safari."

Matt envied his friend's ability to just take off at a moment's notice and travel around the globe having one adventure after another. He had hoped the military would satisfy his own wanderlust but he had spent the last year mostly holed up inside a concrete bunker filled with equipment with a dangerous recognizance mission here and there to break up the monotony. Still, Robert's nomadic existence held some appeal to him.

"I saw C.J. when I stopped in Boston to crash with a friend," Robert said, "She's one hot girl; she just doesn't realize it yet."

Matt remembered that Robert had always been attracted to his best friend but she hadn't really been all that interested in his brand of charm. Still Robert never gave up on what he wanted. But if he didn't think that C.J. realized what kind of effect she had on at least one man, he really didn't know her that well.

"I haven't had a chance to see her," Matt said, "I came here to meet my girlfriend Christina. You remember her."

Robert did indeed.

"You mean the one who called you Rooster or something ridiculous like that?"

Matt sighed. Not everyone got the nicknames that he and Christina had coined for each other when they were dating in college.

"She's a model now, and after she's finished with some modeling jobs, she'll be joining me here," Matt said.

"Aren't you supposed to be out defending our country," Robert asked.

"I'm working intelligence and even us working stiffs get some time off every once in a while," Matt said.

Robert nodded.

"So you're getting ready to spend some romantic downtime with your girl," he said, "Sounds like a great vacation. I'm hoping to get lucky myself."

Matt didn't doubt that Robert would as when they had been in college, Robert's never do well attitude might have kept Matt busy getting him out of trouble but it drew the ladies to him as if he were the Pied Piper of beautiful women at Rice University.

Robert stood up.

"We'll nice running into you," he said, "Perhaps we can go out on the town here and get drunk. That is if your old lady doesn't mind."

Matt just said goodbye to his friend as Robert took off down the beach and sure enough, two young women came up to him not more than one minute after he had left Matt. He didn't have any plans for this evening but maybe he would check out the night life and enjoy a night out before Christina arrived.

C.J. allowed her hair to dry naturally as she picked out her outfit for the clam bake, a short wraparound skirt and a tank top, with a wrap in case the ocean breeze kicked in later on. Julia had picked a summer dress and had piled her curls on top of her head in a bun.

"We look absolutely awesome," Julia said, approvingly as they checked themselves out in the mirror.

"You ready to go," C.J. asked, reaching for her purse.

"Always," Julia said, "Now remember the plan, we might arrive together and then leave it open ended after that."

"Look I'm going to have some fun, enjoy Carl's company but I'm coming back here alone," C.J. said, "So you don't have to worry about bumping into him in the bathroom in the morning."

Julia shrugged.

"I won't because I'm planning for some serious action with Stefan," she said, "Did you see how hot he looked in those Speedos?"

C.J. hadn't noticed, not being into surfer types and she sensed that Stefan beneath his suave attitude was a player and she didn't want to see Julia get hurt. She knew that her brush with her mortality made her more vulnerable and if Stefan was bad news…

"Julia, maybe you should slow things down with Stefan," C.J. said, "You barely know him."

Julia rolled her eyes.

"Just because you're not willing to get it on with Carl, doesn't mean I have to pretend I'm in a nunnery around Stefan."

"I never said that," C.J. pointed out, "I just think you should be careful."

Julia glowered.

"I'm always careful," she said, "and I always protect myself."

C.J. decided not to argue with her friend about it. After all, maybe if she were facing what Julia was, she would want to throw caution in the wind as well. Julia threw her another look.

"Come on, let's get going before they run out of food," she said.

They left the bungalow to head off to the clam bake, joining the throngs of other beachgoers heading in that direction, where C.J. could hear band music playing.

The two of them walked straight to the bar where the drinks flowed freely. C.J. grabbed a beer and ran into Carl who sat at a table in the sand.

"It's really packed tonight," he noted, sipping his beer.

She looked at the crowd around her including couples dancing to the rhythm of the band and she asked him if he wanted to join her.

Matt had hit the bars and had run into Robert who had met up with a bunch of his old crew members from some of the documentaries that he had worked on. He introduced them to Matt who joined them to shoot a couple of games of pool. He hadn't played a good game in a while but he hadn't lost his skill and won them. The two men just looked at him as they handed them their money. Robert slapped them on the shoulder before they could get too upset.

"Matt's quite the pool shark," Robert said, "Come on, let's buy another round."

"I think I'll call it a night," Matt said, putting the cue on the rack, "It's been good bumping into you again. Look forward to your next film."

"You wouldn't mind financing it," Robert said, "just thought I'd ask."

Matt just shook his head and left the bar but soon enough Robert tailed on behind him, slapping Matt's shoulder.

"So are you heading off to that shindig that they're having on the beach?"

Matt just looked at his friend.

"I believe that in this part of the country, it's called a clam bake," Robert said, "It sounds a bit tame for me but maybe we can go liven it up a bit."

Matt shrugged and they took off in the direction of where the music played.

C.J. enjoyed dancing and Carl proved to be a great partner, better than she ever would have thought just by looking at him. They danced several songs and out of the corner of her eye, C.J. could see that Julia had bumped into Stefan. Although she still had her misgivings about the man, Julia's smile lit up her entire face as they slow danced across the floor.

But even as Carl held her close to him, C.J.'s thoughts drifted to a different night where she had been held as tightly by another man, who had caressed her back with his hands as they drifted in time to the music coming from a juke box. She had looked up into his face and he had smiled, and she remembered that night as clearly now as she had lived it back then. Back before the world had changed around them and had drawn them into its shifting currents.

And then she looked up suddenly and saw him.

Matt blinked as he saw the woman dancing with a partner on the dance floor who reminded him of the woman he had spotted on the beach earlier, the one who had looked like…no it couldn't be but this time Matt took the closer look that he had felt drawn to take and saw that indeed the woman that he had been thinking of now stood before him. The song had just ended and she held onto the arm of the man standing with her. She laughed at something that the man said and then her face changed and she knew she had spotted him. Her hand shifted from the man's arm to his hand and the both of them headed towards Matt.

"Houston, what are you doing here," she asked him, just looking at him as if she couldn't believe he stood there.

She let go of the man's hand and swooped into his arms quickly and his own arms wrapped around her. After she embraced him tightly taking in him for a long moment, she released him with a kiss on the cheek.

"I can't believe you're here."

His eyes never left hers.

"I got a few days leave," he said, "and I thought I'd spend it here."

She ran her hand through her hair.

"Wow, this is amazing," she said, "Houston, this is Carl, he's a business student at Harvard. He's going to be moving to California to begin his company."

"Great state for a fresh start," Matt said, shaking Carl's hand, "What will you be specializing in?"

Carl didn't miss a beat.

"Information technology," he said, "It's a quickly growing field with both creative and earning potential. I've got a business partner already getting the process started."

Matt nodded.

"I'll be heading out there as soon as I'm done in the military," he said, "I'm trying to get C.J. to come out with me but she's got her heart on being a criminal attorney."

"Top in her class," Carl said, "I used to run into her study groups at the coffeehouse. That's how we met."

C.J. looked at Matt.

"Did you come here alone," she said, "I heard you met someone."

"Actually I met up again with Christina, my girlfriend from Rice."

She nodded thoughtfully, remembering the times that she had spent with Matt when Christina had been with him.

"Christina's doing some modeling jobs before she'll join me here," Matt said, "She should be flying in tomorrow."

C.J. smiled.

"That sounds great…well we'd better get going. It's great to see you."

She and Carl started to head to the bar. Matt saw that they appeared happy together and wasn't at all sure how he felt about that. She was his best friend and he wanted the very best for her but...

"Wait," he said, as he searched for the words.

She turned around to look at him.

"Maybe we could get together," Matt said, "and catch up. It's been a long time."

C.J. didn't need to be reminded of that. She had missed him so much but the news that he had gotten back together with Christina…well it didn't surprise her in a good way. She had always found her to be a bit aloof and someone who looked down on people not of her social stature. But if Matt dug her so much, there must be something about her that definitely appealed to him.

"Sure," she said, with a nod, "Maybe we can get together tomorrow for lunch. There's a good steakhouse near the pier."

"I'll pick you up then,'" he said.

"I'll meet you," she said and then with a final smile, she left with Carl.

After kissing Carl goodnight and giving them her phone number, she walked into the bungalow. It was dark when she arrived with no sign of life. She flipped on the light switch and sure enough, no sign of Julia. Sighing, she went into the kitchen to pour herself some iced tea and she tossed her shoes off as she went. Damn, if he hadn't looked the same as when she had last seen him, and it appeared that he had moved on with his life much easier than she had done. There had been times during the past year when she had thought about what she would say to him when they did reunite and in moments of weakness, that meant telling him what she had felt the last night they had spent together before he left for basic training.

She got her tea and went to sit on the couch, trying to unwind before heading off to bed. She worried a bit about Julia because she had obviously decided to spend the night with some guy she barely knew but then what else was new? Had she really expected Julia's illness to stop her from living like the free spirit that she had been since C.J. met her? Spending time with Carl had been really nice, she related to him in the way that she did most men. He hadn't tried to push any envelopes with her, didn't try to press the issue of coming inside with her. Not that she knew what she would do if he had, as she had been thrown through a loop after seeing Matt again after all this time and here of all places. She had believed that he had been working somewhere across the world in his latest classified assignment not showing up at a clam bake in Martha's Vineyard.

She couldn't describe the feelings that had rushed through her when she had been in his embrace, the familiar sensations and scents striking her full force. And she realized how easily it would have been to let him slip inside past her defenses to the part of her that she had reserved just for him. But she knew she couldn't do that, they had slid back into their roles defined by their lifelong friendship and Matt had gotten back together with his college sweetheart.

Matt sat on his porch after leaving Robert dancing on some tables at the clam bake. Running into C.J. had really surprised him and so had the feelings running through his mind when he had seen her with the guy that she had been hanging with at the clam bake. He had to check himself to keep from asking questions that he knew he had no business asking but when she had been in his arms, his mind had slipped back to earlier memories that he thought he had sealed away some place. And now he sat up late at night staring out towards the ocean thinking about her, when if his mind had been on anyone female, it should have been Christina who would be joining him soon. Relating with her had been easy because she didn't make any demands on him, she moved on in her career and her life like he did with his army assignment. Both enjoyed the days and nights they spent together in the interims but right now in her absence, Christina had stayed there.

He had nixed drinking another beer and had instead stuck with ginger ale that he had found in a cabinet and spiked with ice. The stars twinkled above him and a pale sliver of moon lit the sky as he found his mind wandering down the path where it shouldn't go. Back towards a simpler time when he and his best friend had been wrapped up in each other, after he had shown her the waterfall on their road trip and they had spent that final afternoon near the cascading water that his father had shown him as a child. The moments they shared there had been perfectly etched in time but when he left for the military, he had tucked them away for safe keeping. After all, C.J. hadn't been interested in anything serious, in fact she had asked him to treat her as if she were one of his other women right up to the moment she seduced him.

He of course had told her that he couldn't do that but he got her message that she sent to him loud and clear that she wanted things to remain casual between them so their friendship would remain intact and weather the weekend their relationship had taken another turn. His newer feelings for her had become so intertwined with his friendship that he had discovered that he couldn't separate them from one another as easily as she. But that part of his observations he kept to himself, after all with thousands of miles and a war between them, part of that remained out of necessity.

But at moments like tonight, there were times that his resolve had been tested and the best he could do was to tuck those times he had treasured with her even further into their safe place and to keep his thoughts focused where they belonged, on Christina.

C.J. woke with a start as the sunlight hit her and she looked around her bedroom, seeing the clothes she had worn the night before on the chair where she had left them. She grabbed her robe and got up to get some breakfast in the kitchen, figuring that she probably wouldn't have company given that Julia had clearly spent the night elsewhere. She had tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep, not able to get her thoughts off of Matt. Damn, when she first saw him there at the bake, her first instinct was to jump in his arms and then take it someplace more private. Her cheeks flushed at the thought but this decision to restore the boundaries of their friendship which had kept everything else in check during the years they had known each other really tormented her at times. When she didn't have him visible in her life, she could focus her attention elsewhere on other men, like Carl who she had enjoyed hanging out with the previous day.

But with Matt now in the vicinity, she felt her feelings tumble over themselves all over again. And she thought it silly given that he now had gotten together with Christina, a woman who probably suited him much better than her anyway. Refined and cultured, a woman who chose her words as carefully as her wardrobe, Christina was the perfect girlfriend for a man of Matt's social standing and despite their friendship, C.J. had always been aware that she and he had been born into and had grown up in different worlds even while working side by side together on the ranch.

Still, when she had offered herself to him and he had taken her up on it, she had discovered another side of him, one she hadn't seen before and there were moments when she thought that maybe something deeper could grow between them.

"C.J. is that you," Julia said, coming into the kitchen.

"Did you just get in," C.J asked, "I came in last night and you weren't here."

Julia went to prepare some coffee.

"I was with Stefan, where else?"

C.J. shook her head.

"Julia, you barely know him," she said, "or anything about him for that matter."

"Hey we just talked…and kissed but I didn't sleep with him," Julia said, "I have some ability to restrain myself though it was tough with a guy built like that."

"So you showed some restraint then," C.J. continued.

Julia snorted.

"Amazed, well maybe you should be," she said, "but what about you, did you and Carl hook up in my absence?"

C.J. rolled her eyes.

"Why would we do that," she said, "We don't know each other all that way."

Julia's eyes glimmered.

"Okay, so what about you and Matt?"

C.J. looked up startled.

"What does he have to do with it," she said, "We just bumped into each other that's all."

Julia looked at her skeptically.

"You didn't sleep with him?"

C.J. looked indignant, as she began preparing some cereal.

"No I didn't," she said, "It's not like that between us and he's got a girlfriend."

Julia tilted her head.

"Somehow I don't quite believe you," she said, "I think you're hung up on him and that's why you didn't sleep with Carl."

C.J. just sighed.

"I didn't…why am I explaining anything to you?"

Julia chuckled.

"C.J. you need to loosen up and shack up with someone before you go nuts," she said, "or drive me nuts."

C.J. got the milk from the frig.

"I'm meeting him for lunch," she said.

"That's a start…to what I'm not sure but something."

"Julia just give it a rest."

To her surprise, her friend did just that and the two of them ate a quiet breakfast.

A few hours later, C.J. headed to the steakhouse where she had plans to meet Matt. It was a cozy eatery at the end of a pier and it overlooked the ocean. She stepped inside and ran into the host there who asked if she had reservations. She gave her and Matt's name and he looked confused.

"Wait a minute here," he said, reaching under the counter, "A gentlemen by that name left you this."

He handed her an envelope.


	14. Chapter 14

Here's the latest in this story. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy and the feedback!

* * *

Roy prepared a generous spread for breakfast the next day and they took it outside so that they could enjoy the view of the work being done on Roy's ranch. Bo and Lamar had dropped by earlier to grab a quick meal before returning to where they had been unloading bales of hay in the barn.

Matt dug into his omelet having arisen early and gotten in an early run to get some much needed exercise to soften his rough edges before returning to shower before breakfast. C.J. had already been dressed and ready to go out but Matt slowed her down long enough to convince her to eat some food before they went about the business of proving her innocent of Dylan's murder and going after the real killer.

After taking a few bites, she agreed with his judgment and ate the delicious breakfast in front of her.

"So what's on the schedule this morning," Roy asked them.

Matt sipped his juice.

"Well Nadine wasn't much help yesterday," he said, "I think she knows more than she's telling but we won't be able to get anything more out of her for a while."

Roy nodded.

"She both loved and hated her husband."

Matt listened to his uncle's simple matter of fact statement about his ex-girlfriend if she could be called that.

"You might be right."

C.J. knew that Roy had hit the mark on the head but knew it hadn't been as incidental as it sounded.

"Their marriage was in trouble before I came back to town," she said, "She always believed he was cheating on her and she might have been right."

Matt finished up his omelet.

"Nadine had a wandering eye of her own," he said, "Maybe Dylan found out."

C.J. shrugged.

"He would have been convinced that she was cheating whether she did or not."

Matt looked at her, his brows raised.

"Did she ever say anything to you?"

"She and I didn't get along," C.J. said, "but she did accuse me of coming after her husband a time or two but not after he disappeared."

"Did she ever say where she thought he might have gone?"

C.J. paused.

"No…but then you knew her better than I did."

"She hit on me several times when I came back to town," Matt said, "She didn't appear to miss her husband all that much."

"It was pretty turbulent between the two of them," C.J. said, "But she just hit on you yesterday so she still doesn't miss him."

Matt wondered if Nadine had married him for the money but then it occurred to him he hadn't really known that much about Dylan except mostly what he had heard from others. He did know he hadn't liked the guy.

"What did Dylan do for a living anyway," Matt asked.

"He worked as a reserve deputy," C.J. said, "and he freelanced when he got tired of being a ranch hand but no one knew exactly in what."

"He sure looked like he was living well from what I'd heard," Matt said, "But Nadine complained even after he was gone that she didn't see much of it."

C.J. remembered that all too well but then again, Nadine had complained about her husband a lot but never did anything about it. Unless, the thought occurred to her, she had killed him after all.

"He bought a fancy lifestyle with it," she said, "but he didn't seem to clue her in on that because she might have spent it."

Matt certainly knew that. After all, that was what had attracted Nadine to him. She had always been after him about his daddy's money during the short time they had been together. But he knew something else about Dylan.

"Which means there could have been another woman or two in the picture."

C.J. nodded.

"That wouldn't surprise me," she said, "then that might explain why he tried to hide it from his wife. He did attract some women around him."

"Some of Nadine's crowd if I recall."

"But if he had spent money on them," C.J. said, "Nadine would have gotten wind of it. How could he have hidden it?"

Matt sighed.

"That must have been difficult," he said, "given Nadine's penchant for the finer things in life which mostly involve money."

"He got angry with her I know that," C.J. said, "He thought she was seeing someone else too."

Matt rubbed his forehead.

"Did he or she ever say who?"

C.J. thought about it, and then shook her head.

"Not that I know," she said, "but for the most part, I kept my distance from them."

Matt heard the edge in her voice and wondered about it. C.J. had been back in Wild Fork some months before he returned from California where he had been recovering from his war injuries with Christina.

"All this intrigue must have happened before I got there."

C.J just looked at him but said nothing, playing with the remnants of her breakfast.

"I guess it did," she said finally.

"C.J. what is it that you're not saying…"

The doorbell rang at that moment and she sighed in relief. Roy went to answer it and returned with Rusty. Both Matt and C.J. looked up at him.

"What's going on," Matt asked.

"They want C.J. to come down to the sheriff's office for some questioning."

Matt and C.J. looked at each other.

"Why didn't they do this before they charged her with murder," Matt asked.

Rusty sat down at the table.

"I don't know," he said, "This whole thing seems to be a bit backwards to me."

C.J. looked back at him.

"Me too, but then there's not much in this town that's any different."

* * *

The two of them finished up their breakfast and then headed off with Rusty to the Sheriff's Department. They left their cars and walked inside the small structure which served as the town's field office. Sheriff Bailey hardly ever spent time there but there were a contingent of other deputies and some civilian clerks. One of them, a tall woman, took their names and then had them sit in the lobby and wait for the investigators talk to them.

"You don't have to answer their questions," Rusty said.

"I know," C.J. said, "But I do want to know what kind of investigation they conducted and how I got wrapped up in it."

"We'll do our best to get that information," Rusty said, "It's certainly overdue."

"You would think that the department would have done more homework on one of their reserve deputies," Matt noted, "because I don't think they knew Dylan very well."

"What do you mean," Rusty asked.

"C.J. and I were talking about how he had all this money," Matt said, "But reserve jobs don't pay anything and it's much more than a ranch hand could ever make."

Rusty's brows rose.

"You mean unlawfully gotten gain."

Matt nodded.

"Possibly," he said, "I sure would like to find out and if so, where he got it."

"Nadine wasn't much help?"

Matt and C.J. looked at each other.

"She told half the town that she dropped by your uncle's last night to see you."

Matt had forgotten that she had loved to talk as well, spreading any news to anyone within earshot.

"She didn't say much," he said, "but with her, it's always what she didn't say."

The clerk then notified them that the investigators were ready to speak with them and they followed her into a conference room where she and Rusty sat at a table with the two investigators.

One of them looked up from a notepad, the other fiddled with a recording device. They laid out the ground rules for the interview and Rusty interjected some of his own.

"My client wants to know why you charged her with murder," Rusty began, "and frankly, the thin slip of a folder you gave me with discovery is inadequate."

The two men looked at each other. Finally the one who called himself Cal spoke after perusing a thicker file. The other, Denny just watched, and took notes.

"There was evidence found with the body pointing at Ms Parsons."

"DNA?"

He shook his head.

"Jewelry."

Rusty looked at C.J. but she didn't know.

"What did you find," he said, "Can you be more specific?"

"A necklace," Cal said, "with a mustang."

C.J. remembered the necklace that Matt had given her not long before he had left for the military. She had never taken it off but there had been one night she had noticed it had been missing. After…but she kept silent.

"I had one just like it," she said, "but I lost it some time ago."

"Do you know when," Denny asked.

She shook her head.

"It would be very helpful to our investigation if you could answer that Ms Parsons…"

Matt folded his arms.

"It seems to me that your investigation ended some time ago," he said, "Somewhat prematurely."

Rusty looked over at Matt who had sat there watching the investigators obviously not impressed with them.

"Listen, you haven't given us any real evidence," he said, "to implicate my client in anything let alone murder."

Cal just looked back at him.

"We've got enough," he said, "There are eye witness statements of the confrontation between the victim and suspect…and it was more than just words."

C.J. sighed.

"We did have an argument," she said, "He was drinking and upset about his wife because she had been complaining about me."

"What about you," Cal asked.

C.J. took a deep breath.

"That I was after him which couldn't have been further from the truth," she said, "I wanted nothing to do with him."

"You were working for the District Attorney at the time," Denny noted.

"Yes I was," C.J. said, "and the only time I saw Dylan, he was talking to Jack's secretary except one night…"

"Yes?"

C.J. bit her lip and decided to change directions. Matt looked over at her and she just focused back on the investigators.

"Is this all you have against my client," Rusty asked, "because if so, you've just wasted our time. We'll see you at the prelim hearing."

"What happened with you the last time you saw Dylan," Cal pressed.

"He was alive I can assure you of that," she said, "I didn't kill him."

Rusty nodded.

"She's innocent and this is a sham of an investigation," he said, preparing to leave, "and this interview is over."

Cal shrugged.

"Okay have it your way," he said, "but if I were you Ms Parsons, I wouldn't leave town any time soon."

"I have no reason to do so."

"You better not even take one step over the county line…"

Rusty sighed.

"Are you finished with the threats?"

Cal stood up.

"You're the one who ended this interview," he said, "If you have a change of heart and want to get something off of your chest; you know how to reach us."

C.J. and Matt joined Rusty in walking out of the office, leaving the investigators to probably report back to Bailey that they hadn't gotten anything useful from her.

"Is he up for reelection too," Matt asked.

They nodded to the clerk and left the building.

"He's always up for election," Rusty said, "or thinking about it but he's not as focused on it as Jack."

Matt wondered where Jack hung out these days. It certainly wasn't at his office in Wild Fork, not that he ever had done that even when C.J. worked for him. They walked Rusty back to his car. C.J. paused sticking her hands in her pocket.

"About what I said earlier," she said, "I didn't want to go further with it because I don't know who to trust here."

"That's pretty smart," Rusty noted, "This town's rotten to the core and my guess is that Dylan got caught up in something way over his head."

"I heard his voice one night when I was at Jack's office," she said, "He was talking to Jack and acting like he wanted some money or…"

"Or what," Rusty said.

"It sounded like blackmail to me," she said.

Matt thought about that, after all Jack had been the perennial politician just like his father had been and he had wanted to improve on the original model.

"Maybe he had some secrets he didn't want the voters to find out," he said, "It would be just like Dylan to dig him up and then threaten to spill them."

Rusty considered that.

"But would anyone kill him to keep him quiet?"

Matt sighed.

"I don't know if Jack's capable," he said, "His daddy was one of mine's closest friends. They used to go fishing together."

C.J. knew that from the photo she had seen at that lake resort they had stayed at years ago.

"He was pretty determined to stay in office," she remembered, "He had made some promises to some of his political partners."

Matt furrowed his brow.

"Favors?"

She grimaced.

"Sometimes I think his backers wanted him in office more than he wanted to keep it."

"That can get a politician in a lot of trouble," Rusty noted, "I remember his daddy and his backroom deals."

So did Matt, his own father sat in some of those meetings. When he had been in town and Matt had noticed that he began staying away.

"He had a lot of late night meetings," C.J. said, "I only stayed late enough to see some of his partners arrive. They were county supervisors, maybe a councilman or two."

"It's been like that since way back in Wild Fork's history," Rusty said, "Certainly your father must have told you Matt."

"He didn't share very much of his life with me," Matt said, "Except what he wanted me to do with my own."

"But when you returned here…"

Matt sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

"Look, I had just gotten back from a combat injury, my cousin was dead or so I thought and I had a girlfriend waiting for me back in California."

C.J. remembered that time very well. Matt had wound up staying much longer than he had planned and she had wound up moving to California with him. She didn't really feel like reliving those days.

"Besides Dylan was already out of the picture by that point," Matt said.

Rusty looked at the two of them.

"I can do the best I can with what I've got," he said, "but you have to help me."

C.J. nodded.

"I'll do that," she said, "But there are some questions I want answered myself."

* * *

Rusty got inside his car and Matt and C.J. headed to theirs.

"He's trying to do the best he can C.J, he told her.

She turned to face him.

"I know that," she said, "and I realize he doesn't believe I'm telling him everything."

"Are you," he asked her.

He saw different emotions battle for control over her face.

"All I can."

"What does that mean?"

He unlocked the car and she got inside of it and he joined her on the other side.

"Houston, back then everything was so complicated," she said, "There was so much going on whether it was wanted or not."

"Meaning…"

She hedged.

"Jack might not have been the only one Dylan blackmailed."

"There were others?"

"Maybe," she said, "I don't know for sure."

"You think one of them might have killed him?"

She remained quiet for a while.

"C.J…."

She looked over at him.

"I don't know," she said, "He had other enemies too."

"Other politicians?"

"You remember what it was like when you returned," she said, "What kind of world you had stepped back into."

"Not a whole lot different than the one I left."

"And how I told you to go back where you came from," she said, "to leave while you could and go back to her."

Christina.

Not that his relationship with her had lasted all that long after he and C.J. moved to California. There had been no reason for Christina to have felt threatened by his relationship with his best friend but it had been a bone of contention between them.

"Yeah I do remember…"


	15. Chapter 15

Here's the latest installment of the FF story. Hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

Matt got off of the phone with Christina, frustrated that she had hung up on him. She had called him earlier when he had been unpacking his bags in his uncle's house after having driven in all the way from Houston the previous day. After checking his voice mail, he had tried to return her call. He had flown in a couple of days earlier from L.A. and had stayed with some friends from his years at Rice University and they had painted the town red. Mostly them because after all, Matt had been in a serious relationship with Christina for over a year and they weren't engaged or anything but he had been thinking about it. He did some drinking and some pool playing with his buddies but not so much carousing.

She of course still flew around the world on modeling gigs and he had begun setting up his own company in the golden state of California. What had been called for years, the Promised Land filled with new opportunities for those brave enough to venture there. Matt loved his adopted state, not as much as Texas of course but he had bought a small building to house the offices of his new business, which he felt pretty sure would became a major force in the economic world. At least enough for his father to notice that his only son had been a chip off the old block at least in that regard. Even if they were so different in many other ways, they both had been blessed with plenty of business acumen and drive.

When Christina didn't travel for work, they shared a rented house in Beverly Hills. He didn't like it very much but it suited him fine because he spent most of his time working and trying to seek clients. And when he wasn't doing that, he had been attending physical therapy to more fully recover from his injuries he had suffered during his military stint. His leg didn't bother him much anymore, didn't get stiff hours after exertion. He had as always kept himself in top physical condition running and swimming and lifting weights in a small gym inside his house. The limp that had defined him in the past six months grew less and less noticeable with each passing day. Certainly much so than the last time he had dropped in on Wild Fork for Will's memorial service some months ago. Some stormy days those had been, he recalled but he had begun to come to terms with his cousin's loss and his own feelings of guilt. If it hadn't been for the tough love C.J. had thrown at him, he didn't know if he'd have made it.

He had left the fledgling business and the house in L.A. to come back out to Texas to come out to talk some sense into C.J. because he really wanted her to help him build his company. She had the legal eagle diploma and skills and the same work and play ethic he did. But lately she hadn't been answering his emails or phone calls. So he had decided to take the more direct approach.

Christina hadn't been too happy about that. He realized not for the first time that she had never really warmed to his best friend. Never did anything like accuse him of sleeping with her or anything but he could see the question in her eyes when C.J.'s name came up in conversation. He had heard from his uncle that she still lived in his guest house after quitting her job with Jack. That had stunned him when he had first heard it because pursuing criminal law had always been her dream. But she had quit and hadn't gotten a job anywhere else at least not in the legal field since Will's funeral.

He had called Alexis when he first arrived in Houston to ask her questions about C.J. and Alexis hadn't seemed all that happy to hear from him or to talk about someone Matt had assumed was one of her closest friends. Her voice had been tight and her words carefully chosen but he could sense the tension on the other end of the line.

She hadn't told him much just that she saw C.J. from time to time working as a waitress at the Wrangler after she had quit working with Jack. Nadine had resented her taking a job at her hangout spot and had tried to pick fights with her on several occasions but C.J. didn't bite. She just served drinks, waited tables and did her job there during the nights she worked.

* * *

Matt didn't like her working there but knew he didn't have much to say about it. If he tried to push her to do one thing, she would push back just as hard. He had learned quickly enough not to try that with her again when they'd both been younger. That lesson had stuck with him until he made the same mistake several months ago while staying on at the ranch after they buried the empty coffin in memory of his cousin. This job with the Wrangler though had thrown him through a loop given that she hadn't even liked to hang there while growing up.

But she had been working there he thought until last night when he met up with an old friend to shoot some pool there and he had seen C.J. Not dressed like a waitress at least which accentuated women's more physical attributes. He had started to head straight toward her to talk to her about her job but she had already seen him coming. She had stood in his path, arms folded and before he could even slip a word out, she had hers ready.

"If you're coming here to talk me out of working here, you're too late."

That surprised him and he raised his brows.

"Yes, you heard me," she continued, "I've already quit and I'm picking up my last paycheck."

He started to follow her to the manager's office.

"That's…great…"

She turned to face him.

"Is it really," she said, "Because you don't think I should be earning money with my body instead of my brains?"

"I never said that C.J."

She sighed, as they waited outside for the manager to come and cut her loose with her check.

"But you thought it," she said, "I can read it in your eyes right now and you just got here…what a few hours ago?"

"I was in Houston for a couple of days."

"Hanging out with your friends," she asked, "and not your girlfriend who's back in L.A."

"She's away on a modeling job…"

"Does she know why you're here?"

He nodded.

She folded her arms again; boy he could see she really had a chip on her shoulder and eyes that could kill a man. Did that come from the short time she had spent working at this watering hole slapping the hands of men who tried to grab or touch her as she worked? Was it something else? He just knew he had looked straight at his best friend and didn't recognize her.

"C.J…"

"I've…Ron let me in to get my check," she said, hitting the door again, "Listen, you really don't have the right to tell me where to work…"

"But you quit that job with Jack."

She hid her face even while she looked at him.

"Yes I did," she said, "Like I told you, It wasn't what I really wanted."

"Since when?"

She didn't answer that question and he didn't know if she would but then, Ron had answered the door and had gestured her to come inside. Matt followed and Ron sized him up.

"You're not going to cause any more trouble," he asked, "Because I just bought a new rack of cue sticks."

Matt shook his head.

"Just here with the lady to make sure you don't stiff her."

C.J. responded to that by rolling her eyes as Ron filled out the ledger and then gave it to her to sign before handing her check to her.

"We've enjoyed having you C.J.," he said, "If you ever change your mind…"

Matt looked over at C.J. but she was already out the door with her money.

"Later," was all she said.

He followed her out of the office as she prepared to leave the Wrangler.

"So what are you going to do now," he said.

"I'm already working on your uncle's ranch," she said, "Breaking and training yearlings."

Roy had told him that when he had arrived at the house, that she still lived with him in the guest house. That he wouldn't have been able to do all the work on the ranch without her. He felt that it had been good for her too and that he hoped Matt wouldn't get into arguments with her like the last time about what she was doing with her life. Matt said he would try his best but…

"What about your legal education?"

The one she had dreamed about most of the life he had known her and that she had slaved hard and sacrificed for three years before returning here.

She had this faraway look in her eyes.

"Maybe later…"

Then she walked away.

* * *

A day later and somewhat wiser, Matt thought about what she had given up but had decided if she didn't want to talk about it, he couldn't force her. He had woken up bright and early and had put on some shorts and a tee-shirt before heading out on a run around his uncle's spread. The sunlight reflected off of the nearby river which thread through the ranches and provided some of the irrigation, even as he felt the air begin to heat up. Back in L.A. he usually ran about eight miles and his legs had grown strong through his regimen. The countryside was much more beautiful here remaining immune to the summer's heat, an oasis and he marveled in its stillness.

Suddenly, some hoof beats disturbed it and he looked up to see C.J. riding a buckskin horse from across the field. Her hands on the horse's neck buried beneath its mane as the horse galloped toward the fence. It stopped just short and she dismounted swiftly to inspect a part of the fence just ahead of him. She hadn't seen him and had been intent on her work as she ran her hands over the worn wood, her face furrowed in concentration as he arrived. When she first saw him, a look of surprise mixed with wariness crossed her face but she tried to hide it. He walked up to the fence and placed his arms on it, leaning a bit as he watched her.

"You were up busy this morning," he noted.

She kept looking critically at the fence.

"I think it needs another nail or two."

"I think my uncle needs a new fence."

She tilted her head.

"That's a bit extreme, not to mention expensive."

Matt shrugged.

"He's got the money," he said, "He could build acres of new fences."

C.J. knew that was probably true but that Roy would patch up the fence first to extend the years of its usefulness.

"You know Houston, you were once more banged up than this fence," she said, "but they patched you up rather than replaced you with a newer model."

"Maybe," he said, carefully, "but it's just a fence we're talking about right?"

She softened her stance a little bit then and he didn't know but he might have seen a trace of a smile. Something he hadn't seen there that often lately.

"Careful, I saw that smile."

She resumed examining the fence.

"I think a nail or two…"

He reached for her hand then and she looked at him startled and then she pulled it away.

"What are you doing," she asked.

"I want to talk to you about last night," he said.

She did smile then.

"Careful Houston," she said, "A statement like that might get you into trouble."

"Why were you working there," he asked.

She looked at him directly.

"I needed the job," she said, "My uncle's estate left more taxes than anything else."

"He didn't own much of value."

"Only those boxes of photos of his dead family," she said, "He'd really died a long time ago."

"But you had the job with Jack."

She sighed.

"We've gone over that already," she said, "I quit, end of story and besides your uncle hired me and gave me a place to stay. He's been really great."

His eyes narrowed.

"What about your place?"

She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand.

"It wasn't the place I wanted it to be and I think your uncle needed the company ever since..."

Matt's Aunt Flo had left his uncle to spend some time in a mental health facility. It wasn't goodbye just that she had been struggling to come to terms with Will's death just like Roy had and needed professional help that none of them could offer.

"My uncle's been handling things okay?"

She read the concern in his eyes and the timbre in his voice.

"He's been doing the best he can," she said, "He visits her when she can handle it. He takes good care of her garden and her favorite horse in her absence."

"He was a company man for a long time," Matt said, "It's been hard enough for him to adjust as it is, and then to lose Will…then his wife."

This time she reached out to rest her hand on his while it sat on the fence rail. He looked at her suddenly, but she didn't meet his gaze.

"We help each other Houston," she said, "and we've are getting another batch of yearlings ready for the auction."

He nodded.

"They look impressive."

She smiled, and this time it filled her eyes.

"The best I've ever seen," she said, "Roy has a very good eye for horse flesh."

"He always did," Matt said, "I think my father envied him for that."

Matt's father and uncle still weren't on speaking terms even though they'd lived on ranches several miles apart for years until Matt's father sold his ranch and moved.

"Have you heard from him?"

Matt stroked his chin.

"He's in Europe, Germany last time I heard from him," he said, "He still wants me to come work for him."

"That's natural Houston," she said, "You're his only son and he wanted to pass along the empire he built to you."

"Even if I don't want it."

Her demeanor softened some more.

"You don't have to accept it," she said, "but there's nothing wrong with thanking him for thinking of you and your future."

"I'm creating my own future…in L.A."

"I know…I read your emails," she said, "You and Christina are building quite a life for yourselves."

He looked doubtful.

"She didn't want me to come here."

C.J. didn't look surprised.

"Why?"

He paused a while before answering.

"She thinks there's still something going on between us."

C.J. reacted.

"But that was over and done with before she even met up with you again," she said, "Surely you explained that to her."

He paused again.

"You did tell her we never had that kind of relationship."

"I never told her about the weekend we spent together," he said, "That's something that we shared between the two of us."

C.J. did understand, after all she didn't tell many people that she had slept with him either. Julia had figured it out and it just never had come up with her other boyfriends.

"Really…"

He looked serious.

"Yeah really."

Suddenly they heard the squeal of tires and a convertible stop next to them. C.J. and Matt looked over and saw Nadine sitting shotgun with another female friend. She smiled at Matt.

"I heard you were back in town."

Matt looked over at his ex, if she could be called that given that they never really had a relationship except for hitting the sheets a handful of times. She had married C.J.'s ex, Dylan and he had skipped out on her. Matt didn't wonder why.

"I'm here for a little while."

She gazed at him hungrily.

"How long?"

"Long enough to talk C.J. here into moving to L.A. with me."

Nadine's sultry smile dropped off of her face and she scowled at C.J.

"Oh drop it Nadine," C.J. said, "I'm not leaving with him. I've got plenty of work here."

Nadine sniffed.

"Oh that's right," she said, "You're playing with horses instead of my husband."

Matt looked at C.J. and her eyes had grown cold, more quickly than he thought possible.

"He's gone Nadine," she said, "and we both know why."

Nadine's face froze momentarily and then she waved her hand dismissively.

"I don't even think about that loser anymore," she said, "Good riddance to bad rubbish."

Matt figured that Nadine had moved on with her social life quickly enough and her bed hadn't remained cold for long after Dylan split.

"I mean if he had the hots for a tramp like you," Nadine continued.

Matt felt anger fill him.

"Nadine, there won't be any more of that," he said, "not around me and not around anyone else."

Nadine scoffed.

"Oh come on Matt," she said, "You've not been around here and watched her in action."

"What are you saying Nadine?"

"She tried to steal my husband," Nadine said, "just before he took off."

C.J. just shook her head.

"We both know that's not the truth Nadine."

Nadine folded her arms and curled her lip.

"Damn straight it is you little hussy," she said, "I should have put you in your place years ago."

C.J. knew that if she had tried, she'd have failed and that the other women knew that.

"All I asked Dylan was to stay away from me," she said, "He came after me Nadine."

But the other woman just shook her head.

"I ought to get out of this car and kick the crap out of you."

C.J. just stared back.

"No one's stopping you," she said, "But I should warn you, I hit back."

Matt stepped between the two women who clearly had strong feelings of animosity towards each other that had only ripened over time. If Dylan were the bone of contention between them, he wasn't worth it. But he suspected that Nadine's contention about C.J. being hot for him was off mark.

He turned to look at Nadine.

"Maybe you'd better leave now."

She glared at C.J. and the smiled up at him.

"Fine with me," she said, "Come by the Wrangler later and I'll buy you a drink. For old times' sake."

He sighed.

"I have a girlfriend Nadine," he said, "So maybe we should keep those old times where they belong…in the past."

She didn't appear to like that much but just smiled at him again, before the car pulled away and sped down the road. Then Matt turned towards C.J. and raised a brow. She just shrugged and returned to work.

"I've got nothing to say," she said, "Except what did you ever see in her?"

She had been a way to pass the time, mostly.

"C.J…"

"Okay," she relented, "Forget I asked."

"We need to talk," he said, "About what's been going on here."

She lifted her chin.

"There's nothing to talk," she said, "Maybe you'd better continue with your run before thins get too hot."

He looked at her and saw she had returned back to the fencing. He took off running through his uncle's ranch.

* * *

When he returned, he pulled off his sweaty shirt and walked into the kitchen where his uncle sat reading the newspaper and drinking some coffee.

"Had a good run," his uncle asked without looking at him.

"Pretty good," Matt said, "A bit hot towards the end."

"It's that time of year," Roy said, "It cools down enough at night."

Matt nodded, going to the refrigerator to get some juice.

"Ran into C.J.," he said, "She's fixing some fencing."

"She told me she would have it finished today," Roy said, "I think she needs some time to herself."

Was that an observation or a warning? Matt didn't know and couldn't read it in his uncle's voice.

"Nadine showed up and they almost got into it," he said, "I didn't know they hated each other so much."

"I don't think it's so much hate," Roy said, "as it is what happened with Dylan and C.J."

Matt narrowed his eyes.

"What are you talking about," he said, "Nadine said that C.J. stole her husband which I don't believe."

"C.J. didn't do anything to Dylan." Roy said, "It's that he tried to kill her."


	16. Chapter 16

Oooh updated this one finally. Hope you like it, thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

Matt thought back to those words his uncle had told him in the kitchen back then. C.J. of course had never told him anything about what had happened to her or that anyone had tried to harm her. He had heard from other people that she had mentioned something about an accident, a bad fall or something but nothing experienced at the hands of someone else.

He looked where she lay on the lounge chair on his uncle's veranda in the back. She had fallen asleep with the afternoon breeze on her face, settling under the shade away from the humidity that surrounded them. Her face appeared peaceful and her hands tucked against her and he marveled in her quiet beauty. That had knocked him off his feet a month ago as he finally realized that what he had wanted in his life to make it complete had been interwoven in it all along. When he had broached that subject with her, she had been wary at first. She later told him that she had felt that way because she had fallen for him before that and that standing as a witness to his scheduled wedding to Elizabeth had been so difficult that she had to find strength inside of her to do that. Because she deeply cared about her friend and if Elizabeth was the woman who could make him happy, then she had C.J.'s blessing.

But deep inside of her, much more so than she would readily admit she had hoped that he wouldn't go through with it, that something would stop him before he said those words of finality which would tie him to the woman with the fiery red hair that he had known mere months before their engagement. Now C.J. hadn't hoped for what did happen at his nuptials to take place because it had narrowly caused him and his fiancée their lives but she had gone out to stand by him on the helipad after Elizabeth had departed and then had invited him to catch a late night meal at his favorite restaurant.

Oh they had dinner and then she had left him with a kiss on his cheek and an embrace telling him she would keep things going at the office until he felt fine enough to return to his daily life.

And soon enough he realized what and who he wanted in that life, but persuading her of that took a little more time. They had been perfectly happy enough discovering each other through this new chapter in their relationships until the past had intruded. Now Matt had to figure out what to do to clear her of a murder he know she didn't commit.

After dinner, C.J. entered into the room and came by to give him a kiss. She had dressed in casual attire, jeans and a breezy shirt. The heat had just begun to turn stifling again and even as night approached, there hadn't been much in the way of relief.

He rubbed her shoulders with his hands looking at her.

"So what do you think of my going to talk to Jack," he asked.

She hedged.

"He's the one who filed charges against me."

Matt knew that but he also remembered back when he'd known the man who would later become the county's top prosecutor. Back when their daddies went on fishing trips together and talked business while their sons played.

"I might be able to get something useful out of him," Matt said, "We go back a ways."

"So did we," C.J. said.

Because she had after all, worked for the guy years ago though she hadn't ended her stint there quietly as it had turned out. And that had something to do with the man she had been accused of killing, but she could only remember bits and pieces of the encounters that her boss had with Dylan before his disappearance.

"I don't know if I can trust what he says," she said, "How do we know he's not involved in Dylan's murder?"

Matt paused at that, knowing she had raised an excellent point.

"I guess we'll have to find that out," he said, "We can't rule him out as a suspect because if he killed Dylan, framing you would be the perfect strategy to keep from going down for it himself."

C.J. rubbed between her eyes.

"I know they met more than that one time Houston," she said, "and if it's true that Jack was being blackmailed while running for office…"

"That's motive to get the blackmailer out of his way," Matt continued, "after drawing him in for the kill."

C.J. folded her arms.

"Okay so he does that," he said, "But if it were him, he might need some help to dispose of the body and cover it up all this time."

Matt stroked his chin.

"Who owned the land where they found him," he asked.

C.J. thought about it.

"It wasn't developed back then," she said, "Kids used to use it to play baseball but I think that at one point, it belonged to Robert Winston."

"My daddy knew him," he said, "He was mayor at one time back in the day."

Roy walked in the room with a Scotch.

"Uncle Roy, you spent time with Robert Winston didn't you?"

Roy sat in his chair, putting his drink on the table.

"I wasn't in town much, always on assignment," he said, "but in between, I used to play some poker with him and Jack's father, Jack Sr. and for a while, your father."

Before the two of them had the falling out which barely put them on speaking terms, of course.

"You did this regularly right," Matt asked, "When you were in town."

Roy nodded.

"I wasn't much for hanging out with the power players in Wild Fork," he said, "I had enough of that through my work and when I came back, I just preferred to unwind with my family and my horses. "

Matt could understand that, as he needed a place to decompress after particularly difficult cases. His ranch that he bought back in L.A. had served that purpose but now that he didn't frequent it much, he had gone to his cabin in the mountains. C.J. had joined him sometimes until she had killed a man there who had followed his obsession with her there to confront and kill her. After that, when she needed to unwind, she would drive up the coast to Bodega Bay and rent a cottage there.

"Your father tried to get me more involved in the politics," Roy said, "but I was never really here even when I was in town. Working for the company had its benefits but I never could really put that job aside at the end of the day."

"I think I'll schedule some meetings with some of these power players," Matt said, "Jack's father is still alive but out of politics. I wonder if he's still the driving force behind his son."

C.J. shrugged.

"He used to spend a lot of time at the office telling his son what to do," she said, "Jack hated it. Sometimes I wonder if he hated him."

The phone rang then and Roy went to get it. Matt watched his uncle talk and then return.

"It's for you Matlock," he said, "It's Nadine."

Matt looked at C.J.

"Wonder what she wants this time of night?"

C.J. just rolled her eyes at him, knowing perfectly well. Matt's sometimes lover from long ago wanted to rekindle what they had. Nadine hadn't even tried to play the role of the grieving widow wanting justice for her murdered husband. C.J. expected more animosity towards her from Nadine than she got, maybe an attempted cat fight or two but inside, she knew the truth. Nadine may hate her guts for a variety of reasons but she didn't think C.J. killed her husband and C.J. had to find out why.

Matt picked up the phone.

"Nadine, what's up?"

Her voice sounded both relieved and more than a little sultry. Matt felt his awareness increase because he remembered what Nadine had been like. Both good and bad.

"Oh Matt, I need to talk to you right now somewhere else," she said, "It's important."

"What's so pressing that you can't just tell me over the phone?"

She paused.

"It's too risky Matt," she said, "Someone might overhear."

"Where are you," Matt said, though he already had a good idea.

"I'm at the Wrangler where else," she said, "Why don't you come down here and I'll tell you what you need to know."

"Nadine…I'm here on business," Matt said, "That's my only interest in talking with you is to find out who killed your husband because I know C.J. didn't do it."

He imagined her making a face on the other end but he knew he had to lay out some ground rules for Nadine even though it might not do much good. Nadine went after what she wanted and at one time, that had been him in her bed. But that had been some years ago and he had thought she moved forward. Hell, he knew she didn't seem to miss Dylan all that much but Matt didn't believe there had been much to miss in that sociopath.

"Nadine…"

"Oh Matt don't refuse my request," she purred, "Remember what we used to mean to one another."

Matt sighed. All the time they had spent together had been either at the Wrangler or inside some motel room hitting the sheets. Nadine had known how to make some really good moves but outside of that, she just seemed interested in his daddy's money and Matt's status in Wild Fork as his only son.

"Okay…I'll meet you there," he said, "but only to find out what you know about your husband…nothing else."

"Sure thing Matt," she said, "I'll see you in a little bit."

Matt clicked off the phone. Now to pass this one past C.J. who know looked up at him, her brows raised.

"That's Nadine…she wants me to meet her at the Wrangler," he said, "She said it's about her husband."

C.J. sighed.

"Houston, this late at night," she said, "She's only thinking of one thing after 9 p.m. when she's not thinking about it the rest of the day."

Matt heard a trace of bitterness in her voice and more than that of suspicion. And he knew she had good reason after all, she and Nadine had never been friends or even amiable towards each other all the time they had known each other growing up. But if it meant finding information that could clear C.J. by finding the real killer so they could head on home, he knew he would do anything. She knew that too.

"It will only be a couple of hours," he said, "You can come with me an maybe hang discretely in the background."

Her eyes flashed.

"Okay cowboy, you can go to the Wranglers to meet her but you're coming home with me."

He smiled at that.

"Fair enough," he said, "I like the way you think counselor."

She stood up.

"Maybe I can find out some information too," she said, "After all, I used to work there."

Matt hated being reminded of that because it had been a dark period in both of their lives when she had returned to town from Harvard after her uncle died and he had returned there still consumed by guilt over Will. But she hadn't worked there long, quitting even before he could get her to quit. He sighed now at the irony of both of them now returning to that old haunt in the hopes of solving a murder and putting the past to rest.

* * *

Matt hadn't changed much before they left for the bar but C.J. had decided she needed to spice things up with her own appearance so she returned to the front room dressed in a skirt that Matt didn't recognize and a shirt that accentuated her assets nicely.

"Let's go play some pool and solve a murder," she said, amused by his expression.

"C.J…"

"Oh lighten up Houston," she said, "and stop looking at my chest."

"I…"

She linked her arm in his own and they walked to the front door.

"We'd better get on down there in time for the wet tee-shirt contest."

They had driven on down to the Wrangler which looked exactly as Matt remembered it except for the new paint job. Ron still managed it, and looking only a little bit older, he smiled when he saw both of them walk into his establishment.

"I never thought I'd ever see the two of you again," he said, "but in C.J.'s case, I hoped that I would and you look very lovely tonight."

Matt gave him a cool look.

"Forget it Ron," he said, "She's not working for you."

Ron looked offended.

"I wouldn't think of it. I heard she's a successful lawyer now," he said, "I also heard she's out on bail facing a murder charge for icing old Dylan."

"She didn't kill anyone."

Ron shrugged.

"Dylan was a loser but when he disappeared that night, I thought he'd just run off on Nadine again," he said.

Matt looked around at several men playing pool with several women dressed similar to C.J. watching them while nursing drinks.

"Speaking of Nadine," he said, "Have you seen her tonight?"

Ron smiled.

"She's getting a powder, she'll be back in a minute," he said, "You meeting her like old times?"

Matt shook his head.

"Strictly business."

C.J. looked over and saw that Nadine had returned, passing the pool table to exchange some quick words with the women there. She wondered if they were members of her old posse. But C.J. didn't recognize them and she would if they had been in the group that had made her life difficult while growing up. Though when Nadine had needed help, they had been telling her to go back to her husband.

Nadine sashayed up to Matt and after giving C.J. a frosty look, focused only on him.

"Oh Matt you came," she said, "Let's go someplace private where we can catch up."

"Nadine, I'm here to get some information that you said you had on your husband…"

"Oh…of course," she said, "Well let's go get a private table then."

She touched his back lightly before they walked away and C.J. just rolled her eyes at the woman. But she knew Matt and that he had business in mind and business only. She decided to make herself useful and so she sashayed up to the pool table to watch the game. One man with some impressive tattoos and dark hair looked up at her, his eyes scanning her body.

He smiled so obviously he liked what he saw.

"Want to play a game," he asked.

She smiled at him.

"I'm not really all that good," she said, "Do you think you can teach me?"

He approached her and he stroked her arm. She bristled at that, not that he wasn't attractive but she wasn't a plaything.

"Did you ride into town," she asked, "You look like you ride bikes rather than horses."

He smiled again.

"I do all kinds of riding doll face."

She sighed but she remembered him vaguely from high school and from when she worked at the Wrangler a few years ago. Maybe he would know something useful and if she played a long for a while, she could find out.

"I'm sure you do," she said, "We can talk about that later after you show me how to play some pool."

He handed her a cue and showed her the finer points of the game in an impromptu lesson, making sure his body hugged hers closely as he demonstrated the winning shots.

Matt glanced over at her and didn't like what he saw but he knew she was just trying to do what he was doing, get more information but Zeke, he had been a high school dropout who had spent more than a few weekends locked up in jail on various charges sometimes for fighting. He hadn't like Dylan much as he recalled and Matt remembered a couple of fistfights between them years ago.

Nadine chuckled at the sight.

"Looks like C.J.'s found herself a friend," she said, "Zeke will show her a good time or two."

Matt forced a smile on her face.

"C.J.'s a natural pool shark," he said, "I doubt he knows that."

"He's not interested in her abilities with a pool stick…"

Oh Matt knew that but he trusted C.J.'s ability to handle men who she didn't like but needed information from and Zeke had better not try to pull anything on her.

"Now what were we talking about," Nadine said, batting her eyes at him, "Oh my dead husband."

"Yes Nadine, you said you had some information about him," Matt said.

"I do, but let's break the ice first," she said, "I feel like there's some…tension between us."

"Nadine…"

His words stopped because at that moment, he felt a bare foot stroking his calf.

"What are you doing," he asked.

She leaned forward and smiled at him.

"What does it look like," she said, "I'm perfectly willing to get this information on one condition…that you come back with me to my motel room for old times' sake."

He just stared at her.

Zeke walked up behind C.J. pressing his body closer to hers while trying to position his hands on her own as she lined up her shot. She just looked over her shoulder at him.

"I can handle it from here just fine Zeke."

"I know doll face but you just feel so damn good," he said, "I've dreamed about this night for years."

She frowned at him.

"Dreamed about it," she said, "You mean since you took me to the dance and tried to feel me up right on the dance floor?"

He grinned at her, his hands wrapping around her waist.

"Oh man I knew you were one hot number back then," he said, "Even though the other guys were afraid to even approach you…"

That confused her.

"Afraid…why?"

Zeke pulled away then after she sunk her ball in the corner pocket and needed to line up her next shot.

"Damn you've been holding out on me again," he said, "You know your way around a pool table."

She smiled at him.

"Well they're useful…for a couple of things."

He chuckled.

"I always thought you were hot," he said, "but Dylan…"

Her attention turned to him in a flash.

"Dylan…what do you mean about him?"

Zeke watched as she fired another shot, sinking another ball.

"He didn't want anyone hanging around you," he said, "He wanted you for himself."

Not exactly news to C.J. but she hadn't been aware that others knew about his attraction to her when she had come back to town.

"He told you that?"

Zeke nodded.

"And his wife overheard…"

Matt looked across at Nadine who looked like she wanted to just eat him up. The predatory look in her eyes that he knew so well couldn't be misinterpreted even after the years that passed.

"Nadine, I don't think…"

She sighed.

"You think too damn much," she said, "That's always been your problem."

Matt looked over at C.J. and saw that Zeke had wrapped his arms around her purportedly to help her line up her pool shot. Nadine noticed, and her mouth curled into a smile.

"She seems right in her element," she said, "with men flocking around her."

Matt noted some resignation in her voice along with animosity.

"You mean like she had caught Dylan's attention."

Nadine nodded.

"He used to say that she was coming onto him like a cat in heat," she said, "but I think he wanted what she had to offer."

"Maybe she didn't want it Nadine."

Nadine chuckled.

"All women want that Matt," she said, "Some of us are just more honest about wanting a man's attentions."

Matt didn't think that C.J. ever had that problem. She had always been direct in her relationships with men as far as he had known. She had told Matt once in a quiet moment spent with him up in his cabin that she hadn't wanted any misunderstandings.

"She could do worse than Zeke," Nadine said, "He knows how to please a woman."

"Sounds like you know from experience."

She scowled.

"We had our good times," she said, "but he's really not my type."

"No I suppose not," Matt said, "were 'those times' while you were married to Dylan?"

He thought she might be angry with him but she just looked pensive.

"Maybe…more a thought than action."

Matt looked back over at C.J. who had moved away from Zeke who had gone to line up a shot. He wondered how far C.J. was ahead in the game. He sighed as he felt Nadine stroking his leg with her foot again.

C.J. had been surprised when she had learned the extent of Dylan's interest in her. He had been the first man she had ever fallen in love with albeit until he dumped her after their brief affair while he worked on Matt's family ranch. She had been young and pretty naïve about physical relationships and she assumed he had either gotten bored with her or had other women lined up on the side. It had stung when he left but she had gotten over it and moved on quickly enough. Zeke returned to her and this time he placed his hands on her waist from the front.

"You held out on me," he said, "You've played this game before…"

She found herself wondering what he meant…oh yeah pool. She had played the game while growing up and she and Matt had played it a lot especially when stumped on the particulars of a thorny case.

C.J. took a deep breath when Zeke's hands moved up from her waist to well, not where she really wanted them.

"Hey doll face, why don't we play for a wager?"

She looked up at him, trying to ignore that his hands had moved towards stroking her back. She had learned to play along when playing a role to get more information from a subject. Not that she always liked it but whatever worked to solve a case.

"Like what?"

He grinned at her.

"I win the next round, you spend the night with me," he said, "and if you win…"

"I'll get my pick of any man in the bar," she finished.

He scowled at her, not liking that addition to the rulebook at all.

"Well actually…I was thinking…"

"That I'd go with you anyway," C.J. said, "Now what kind of conditions are those, either way I do it your way."

"Oh we could be doing it all kind of ways…"

Okay, either the alcohol had loosened up Zeke or he was always had a lecherous bent. She extricated herself from his embrace but he didn't want to let her go.

"Put your hands off of me," she said, "or I'll show you what this doll face can do."

He moved his hands all right to her breasts which she didn't like at all. And he probably wouldn't like what came next.

One of those power packed moves that Matt had taught her when she had gone to him several years ago asking him to teach her how to defend herself. And he had done that without laying any conditions on her.

It didn't take Zach long to know she could take care of herself.

"Why darling…I never saw this side of you…"

Matt looked over and saw trouble. But he noted that C.J. appeared to have the upper hand on the groper and was about to send him down on the floor. Then he remembered something…she couldn't get in a fight in public because she was out on bail.

"She's going to get her ass right back in jail," Nadine noted. "The woman never did have class."

Matt shot Nadine a look and walked over to where C.J. had looked like she was going to disable Zeke with a knee to the groin.

"You tease," he gasped while he blocked her move.

Matt grabbed his arm and pulled him back. C.J. looked up at Matt startled.

"Houston I've got it all under control."

Matt slammed Zeke against a wall.

"But you're on bail and you can't violate any laws or ordinances or they'll revoke it."

She hadn't remembered that part of the fine print on her release forms.

"Good point," she said, "We'd better just go. I'm sure he's had enough."

"He's not going to report it?"

C.J. shook her head.

"It'd be too embarrassing for him if it ever got out," she said, "I'm done here."

She smoothed out her skirt and her shirt.

"The action was always lousy here."

Matt bit back a chuckle and placing a hand on her back, they walked on out. Nadine walked up to them.

"Wait Matt…I hadn't gotten to the best part of what I had to say…"

"Later," he told her as he and C.J. walked out of the bar.

* * *

Driving back, she didn't say very much at first and he remained focused on what Nadine had told him in between her attempts to seduce him. That she probably had been cheating on Dylan during their marriage and possibly with Zeke.

"So how'd it go with Nadine," she asked finally.

"She seemed awfully cozy at one time with your guy."

"Oh you mean Zeke," C.J. said, "Well he and Dylan didn't always see eye to eye either but he did tell me that he never approached me back then because Dylan told him not to do it."

That surprised Matt.

"So Dylan was why you…"

She smiled.

"Okay just say it," she said, "Why the pickings for me were especially scarce here."

He had pulled into Roy's drive and they parked the car but chose to sit inside it. Matt listened to the noises of the engine ebb to be replaced by the sounds of crickets outside the window.

"Except for you of course," she continued, "That weekend we spent together…was still my favorite."

Matt moved closer to kiss her and her lips eagerly met her own as his hands rested on her to bring them even closer together. He broke away, and still breathing heavily, they gazed at one another.

"Mine too," he said, "If I had known it would take so long…"

She put her fingers on his lips.

"No regrets okay," she said, "We had to live the lives we did and make our choices to get back to where we are now."

Matt had known that to be true but damn it was hard to reconcile himself with the fact that they had lost valuable time trying to keep themselves from crossing that fine line again when they could have been doing other things.

"You're damn sexy when you are reasonable…"

She smiled and he pulled her closer this time, much closer. His lips started at her mouth but traveled down to her chin, the area beneath her jaw, her neck. Her skin intoxicated his taste buds, the hint of her shampoo reached him.

"Houston…"

"Don't say anything," he gently scolded, "I'm too busy here."

She could see that and definitely feel that, when his hands began stroking her before stealthily slipping underneath her shirt.

"I haven't done this since I've been a teenager," she whispered.

"You mean made out inside a car," he asked, "We'll have to remedy that."

She chuckled and then sucked in her breath as his hands toyed with the straps of her camisole underneath her shirt.

"Houston…"

"That's my name."

Damn it felt so good to be in his arms like this, she thought, but she found herself pulling away from him.

"I can't…"

He looked at her puzzled, his face flushed.

"Can't do what?"

"This," she said, "I want to so much, it's just that…"

He knew that she spoke the truth but that something held her back from expressing herself as much as she wanted to do so.

She tried to slow down her breathing and adjust her clothes after she put some distance between them, about as much as could be done inside a cramped car.

"What's the matter," he asked.

And when she looked at him finally, he saw tears sparkle in her eyes, lit up by the moonlight.

"I don't know what's going to happen to me," she said, "or what kind of future I'll have left. I could be spending the rest of my life in prison or even on death row."

He closed his eyes at the images which raced inside his head. But he knew she needed him right now to not be caught up inside his own concerns.

"That's not going to happen…"

"Who's going to stop it," she said, "Houston, I'll be going on trial facing murder charges and right now, there's nothing pointing towards the real killer."

"We'll find out who really did it and clear you."

She heard the stubbornness in his voice intertwined with love. Damn, she had been looking her entire life for what had been right in front of her the whole time and ready to embrace all of it before her past rudely intruded.

"I don't want to start something with you I can't finish…"

His face softened then and he caressed her face while moving in closer to brush his lips softly over hers this time.

"Oh we're definitely going to do much more than start something," he said, "C.J. I've found the woman I want to spend my life with and I'm not letting her go."

Despite her fear, a smile curled her mouth.

"Oh really, do I know her?"

He just smiled at her and opened his car door to get out.

"Come on," he said, "Let's go inside and move this to the couch…"

"But Houston…"

He put his hands up.

"I'll behave myself I promise," he said, "but cuddling on the chaise in the back porch will do us both some good."

She nodded at that and took his hand in her own as they walked to the house.

"Houston…"

"Hmmmm…."

She winked at him when he looked at her.

"Don't behave yourself too much…"


	17. Chapter 17

Here's another update of this FF story. Thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

C.J. stared at the computer at work, reading the latest email from Matt who of course had settled down to living his life in L.A. He had recovered from his injuries and had started his own company in the city of dreams, miles away from Wild Fork.

Christina of course had joined him and had proven to be as successful a model as she had been in Europe. And from his emails, it seemed like the two of them had picked up where they had left off when they had been together in college. C.J. was happy for them, well mostly for Matt because she had never been all that keen on Christina. The young woman had been chilly to her when they had first met when she had been worn on Matt's arm at a social event during a rare visit to the ranch. Christina didn't bode much for the more rural lifestyle so far away from her jet setting life in metropolises all over the globe. She had stayed indoors while Matt worked the ranch with his father's hands, preparing it for market because she didn't want the sun to prematurely age her skin. So while C.J. and Matt had been out working in the blazing sun, she had spent most of the time on the computer or on her cell phone talking to her agent.

But when Matt and C.J. rode back to the barnyard after a long day out mending fence or rounding up yearlings, Lamar would tell Matt that his girlfriend awaited him inside the ranch house. C.J. just rolled her eyes but smiled at Matt telling him to run on along so his girlfriend wouldn't feel neglected.

And Matt was pretty skilled at getting back on the right side of his women. C.J. knew that from experience. Working alongside him on the ranch after they both returned for a spell had been so damned difficult because the memories of him which she had tucked away had slipped out when she hadn't been looking. Images of him kissing her while unbuttoning her shirt, to slip his hands to stroke her warm flesh. She would blink her eyes and that vision would ebb while her heart stopped racing and she centered herself back in her gritty surroundings of being covered with dust and manure at times while the woman who met Matt smelled of lilacs and roses, with nary a hair out of place.

C.J. would just hit the shower and make sure it was a cold one during those days.

Christina and Matt had returned soon enough to L.A. and his company had grown quickly and she had started appearing on the covers of major women's magazines. C.J. saw them on the racks at the local stores when they finally reached their corner of the state; the woman was truly beautiful and exuded grace and style.

C.J. worked for Jack having returned there after law school and deciding to stay after settling her uncle's estate. She needed experience in criminal law and this seemed a good way to start building on her internship spent with the great F. Lee Bailey. Now that she had a degree, she did more legal research and crafted more briefs for evidentiary motions while studying for the state bar so she could appear in court.

Jack still spent most of the time in his office at the county seat and farmed out the work to a couple of senior prosecutors who worked several days a week. When Jack appeared at the office, he spent most of the time working behind closed doors except when leaving with a young woman who if the trailing whispers were right, was his latest mistress. His father had been one of the greatest district attorneys that the county had ever seen and the younger Jack slipped easily enough in his father's footsteps helped by the same cabal that helped define his father's success.

C.J. worked so hard she never had much time for a social life. She and Alexis would often meet up just like they used to do before she went to law school at the diner. Alexis hoped that her aunt would help her start her own beauty salon in Abilene so that she could leave Wild Fork. She had shaken her head at C.J. just returning to town after having made it all the way to the East Coast. Okay maybe she had to return to settle her uncle's affairs as she was the only family he had left but she could have just left town again after that had been done.

Alexis had a point. Matt had been pestering her to come out to L.A. to work as legal counsel for his company. She had begged him off not being sure why she did except that once he'd healed from his injuries; she just felt it was time for him to build his own life. And she needed to find her own way.

She closed the door of the office where she worked and didn't see him approach her.

"You're keeping awfully late hours," he said, "Are you alone or were you in there with Jack?"

She didn't need to turn around to see that the voice belonged to Dylan who had obviously been drinking probably at the Wrangler before Ron kicked him out for the night.

"Excuse me."

He didn't step aside so she could walk past him to her car but instead blocked her path. She smelled whisky on his breath.

"What if I want to talk to you," he asked.

"Then come back tomorrow morning and bring your case number."

She readjusted the files that she carried and tried to move forward but he wouldn't let her pass.

"Why don't we go get a drink," he suggested.

"Why don't you go back home to Nadine?"

Just mentioning his wife's name made him curl his upper lip in a sneer.

"She's at her sister's in Abilene," he said, stroking her arm with his hand, "We'd have the place to ourselves."

She gritted her teeth and maneuvered away from him and his hand.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she said, "You need to go home and sleep it off."

He chuckled.

"Oh you think you're so smart giving me orders," he said, "I bet you think that Jack hired you for your smarts and that fancy degree but he didn't. He just knows a great piece of tail when he sees it."

She stood there just looking at him.

"That might be Dylan," she said, "Or not. But I'm here to do a job that I was hired to do for the county, not just for him."

"He runs the county, that branch of it anyway," Dylan said, "Of course even now Daddy's still pulling some strings."

C.J. had heard the stories about the political cabal that ran Wild Fork and welded control over everything within its boundaries with an iron fist. Seriously she hadn't put much stock in them because she had grown up in this patch of dirt most of her life and she didn't get what about it was so valuable that people would fight over who got to control it.

Unless it was the thrill of the power and status of ruling even a small plot of insignificant land that had people so wrapped up in engaging in power plays. She knew that Matt's own father had been one of the main political forces from behind the scenes even though he traveled a lot on business. She didn't know him very well but he seemed to be a very fair employer who paid good wages and took care of those who worked for him. Not like some of the other ranchers in this area who kept their seasonal ranch hands living in substandard shacks with no plumbing and paid them not much more than minimal wages.

But she knew his father didn't engage in any unethical behavior. As for the others, she could only guess because after all, she'd been in Boston most of the past three years which had been a whole different culture than the one that raised her. Even more so than Berkley.

"Get out of my way Dylan and go home," she said, using her body to get past him.

He grabbed her arm and jerked her to look at him. She felt the anger surge through her more than she felt any fear.

"Let go of me."

He sneered.

"What are you going to do," he said, "Why are you acting like an ice queen these days? You think you're too good for all of us here?"

"Only some of you."

That angered him, she knew but she had grown tired of the attitude coming her way because she had spent part of her life away from this place.

"Oh now you're being smart…I ought to…"

"Do what," she challenged, "You need to go back and crawl under whatever rock you crawled out of Dylan."

She pushed past him, nearly knocking off his feet and continued on towards her truck. He just stood there for a moment watching her, his anger dissipating soon enough because he was pretty drunk. She stuck the key in the ignition and started the car, heading on home.

* * *

Matt sat on the couch reading the Wall Street Journal while Christina talked shop to her agent on the phone. He had booked her on a modeling assignment in Miami which would include her posing with two other models on the cover of _Cosmo_. Only one of the top magazines for women in the country, she had told him when she first got the officer. But her agent was haggling over her payment and whether or not she would be used more prominently than the other two models. Christina's career had soared in the past few months and she had been high demand. This meant she left town a lot but then so did he having started to make business trips to build contacts for his fledgling enterprise.

"So are you going to take the job," he asked her when she returned to the sofa.

"Maybe," she said, "Juan wants to get another percentage out of the publisher," she said, "He's never satisfied unless he gets the last word."

"With you or with them?"

"Either, it doesn't matter to him. More money in the bank." she said, sitting beside him.

Matt looked over at her.

"Do you like modeling," he said, "because it doesn't seem to make you happy these days."

She sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"Oh Rooster, I don't mean to be acting this way when I'm home," she said, "I really like parts of it, the showmanship and the excitement of modeling for a new designer. It's just the business side of it that gets to me."

"That's why you hired Juan to handle that."

She nodded.

"But he cares about the bottom line than he does the product," she said, "and that's not the creative side of it."

"Then why don't you cut back on your jobs and find out what it is that you really want to do," he said, "because it doesn't sound like modeling is it."

She looked at him, exasperation showing in her eyes.

"Matt, I love modeling, really I do," she said, "I just need to shift my focus, less magazine covers, more runways."

Matt sipped his coffee.

"Then tell your agent that."

She hedged.

"Maybe after I finish my current commitments which will be in about six months…"

Matt heard the rushed nature of her voice as she picked up her coffee mug and walked back to their kitchen. He knew she had a plane to catch in three hours to head off to Seattle for a photo session at some of the tourist spots. She had packed her traveling case last night while he had finished up the specs on his new project; the one that he hoped would send his company in an exciting new direction. They often both worked late into the nights when they didn't go out although they had been meaning to spend more time with each other. But somehow their divergent career paths tugged them apart from each other that not even intentions could bridge that gap.

Matt knew that he loved Christina but didn't know whether he was truly in love with her. Not the way that he had been when both attended Rice University. And what had happened between them while he had been serving in the military had been moments in time when their lives had collided with each other. They grabbed a few moments together and then they moved apart again. It hadn't seemed as if that part of their relationship had changed very much since he was discharged and she had reunited with him back in California.

And then there had been the one major bone of contention between them which of course had been C.J. Matt had been trying to talk her into leaving her prosecutor job in Wild Fork and heading west to come and work with him in his company. He needed good legal counsel and he knew he'd love working together with her to make his business a success. But she had proven to be stubborn and had decided to continue to work for Jack. Matt hadn't given up but he would give her some space and let her come to her senses. It just wasn't happening quickly enough.

But Christina looked at C.J. as a woman who stood as her greatest competition to Matt's heart. Even though that couldn't be further from the truth, Matt told himself because his relationship with his lifelong friend was much different than Christina believed. Yes, he and C.J. had crossed that line once during the weekend they spent together at the cabin by the lake but that had been a memorable slice of time in both of their lives to be tucked away while they both moved ahead with their lives. Not that flashes of how she had looked when she had offered herself to him and the scent of her shampoo and the taste of her sun kissed skin had never left him. But that had been in the past and in the present, he shared his life with Christina in L.A. while C.J. remained back in Texas.

"Matt, I'd better get ready to go to the airport," she said, heading to take a shower.

He continued reading the newspaper.

* * *

C.J. got back to the place she rented and flipped on the light. Feeling famished, she had gone into the kitchen to make a late dinner before heading for bed. She prepared to microwave some pizza slices that she had ordered takeout from the new pizza spot and poured herself some iced tea.

The phone rang and she picked it up while her pizza heated up.

"Hello, this is C.J.," she said.

Only silence met her as she waited for the person on the other end of the line to say something. She walked over to get her pizza and some napkins before heading back to the living room.

"Who is this," she asked.

No one spoke and she heard no background noise to provide any clue to her caller's identity. Finally the phone clicked off and she received a dial tone. Wrong number perhaps, she said, hanging it up and heading into the living room. The wind had picked up a bit when she had been driving home and she felt it rustling against the branches of the trees in front of her place. Her run in with Dylan had unnerved her though she would never admit it to anyone. When she had hooked up with him, she had been naïve and had really believed that he felt the same way about her as she had about him. It hadn't been love or some great romance but she thought he had cared about her. She sighed and realized that she really had no desire to come into contact with him but since both of them lived in the same small town, avoiding him would be impossible. And with Nadine out of town, he would be more likely to get himself into some mischief. He attracted women, she couldn't understand why but they did flock around him and she guessed that he cheated on his wife. Not that this was any of her business, she just wanted him to stay away from her.

The phone rang again and she shook her head, thinking it wasn't going to be a quiet night. She picked it up and this time the caller readily identified herself.

"Where is he," Nadine said, sounding drunk.

Clearly she meant her no good husband Dylan who had been carousing all night. Had he returned home as she told him to do? She had no way of knowing but if Nadine had called her looking for him, either he had passed out cold when he reached his house or he hadn't come home at all.

"I know he's with you," Nadine said, "You just tell that worthless bum that I'm on to him."

C.J. sighed, not thrilled about having to be caught in the middle of their latest fight. If Nadine had a bone to pick with Dylan's wandering eye, she needed to talk to one of his mistresses and not C.J.

"He's not with me Nadine," she said, "I don't want anything to do with him."

"You lying whore," the other woman said, "I've heard you've been in his pants more than once."

C.J. ceased to be shocked at the rumors that swirled around town about her, whether it was speculation about why she had really left Wild Fork and even more about why she had returned. Not to mention that she was screwing around with half a dozen husbands of women in town. No one hearing these lurid tales ever stopped to think about just how ridiculous they sounded. For one thing, C.J. was just too damn busy working for Jack to even have one lover let alone half a dozen.

"Nadine, you're as drunk as your husband was when I saw him tonight," C.J. said, "I advised him to get his hands off of me and go back home."

"You tramp," Nadine said, "sinking your hooks into my man when I'm not even here."

"Nadine I'm hanging up now," C.J. said, "Don't call back."

C.J. hung up not waiting to listen to Nadine's response. Hopefully, the woman would sleep it off and deal with her own husband when she got back to town. She finished her pizza and headed off to bed where sleep quickly caught her and so did her dreams.

* * *

Matt woke up from his dreams, in a sweat. He sat up in his empty bed and tried to think. He had been dreaming about a woman and it hadn't been Christina. It had been all about C.J. and what they had shared together, as if she had just slipped away from him moments ago. He hadn't been thinking of her when he had drifted off to sleep, he had been working through some issues with a particular project in his head as the shadows danced inside the bedroom and he listened to the steady hum of the air conditioner.

He hadn't dreamed about C.J. in months not since he had just gotten back with Christina from the time they had spent in Wild Fork to prepare the ranch where he had grown up for sale. Guilt filled him as he remembered that he had never told Christina about what had happened the day that she had decided to fly back early to meet with the organizer of a perfume advertising campaign that she had signed up to serve as its spokes model in a series of television spots.

The night they had been apart.


	18. Chapter 18

Whew, updated this one too! Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

Matt had gotten up early that morning with the sunlight that streamed over the ranch, caressing it before it would intensify into another scorcher. The humidity had picked up as well promising that the monsoons that hit the parched region this time each year were on their way.

He had gone on a shorter run, and then showered before he had been set to drive to his meeting with Jack, who he had called the previous day. C.J. had also gotten up earlier to go with Roy to look at the horses that Bo and Lamar had been taking care of while the rest of them had been in L.A. He knew that she needed the time spent away from her own worries to pursue some other activity and she had always enjoyed working with young horses, training them and breaking them to saddle in the gentle but persuasive style that had defined her in wrangling.

He smiled as he thought it had defined her in other ways as well. His cheeks flushed a nice shade of pink amid his skin tanned by time spent in the sun when he thought of those ways. He had been watching her surreptitiously while trying to fend off Nadine at the Wrangler and he had wanted to crack a pool cue over Zeke's head when he put his hands on her rather than just slam his sorry ass against the wall. But C.J. had wrangled some useful information out of him about his relationship with Dylan's wife.

Nadine…well she had just been Nadine. Coming onto him just as she always did even though her husband had just been found dead not long before. He really didn't know yet how long she had at least suspected that he had run into foul play and hadn't just skipped out on her when he disappeared.

And C.J. well she had kept him at arm's length but he had plied a few kisses out of her while they had been relaxing on the chaise before they had headed off to bed…separately. He knew that she hadn't really wanted to spend the night alone but the uncertainty of her future at least as far as she had been concerned had made her reticent about her present. He would just have to convince her that she wasn't going down for Dylan's murder, wasn't spending the rest of her life in some dark prison cell and that together they would search for the real killer until they found him.

Or her.

Because maybe there were more than a few women who had passed through Wild Fork who had wanted to kill him. After all, he sensed that C.J. had been included in that category at some time but he just knew she didn't go out and do it. Wanting to and doing so were two entirely different things, something that had been drummed into Matt many a time during his investigative career.

Matt got out of his car and walked into the local office that Jack frequented on occasion although he spent most of his time in his larger headquarters. He had grown up like Matt in this town and they had attended school together, though Matt spent most of his time not studying or not toting a football on the ranch while Jack had spent most of his spare time learning politics from his daddy…and often from Matt's as well.

The secretary greeted him and told him that after finishing up a phone call, Jack would see him. Matt looked around the office and saw pictures of his friend posing with various dignitaries including several that he recognized. Not to mention members of the town's own political circle that seemed unchanged from one generation to the next, being passed down from father to son.

Matt had just been thankful that college and then the military had freed him from the tight hold that the town might have had on him otherwise. Jack walked out and smiled when he saw Matt, holding out his hand.

"It's been a long time," he said.

Actually it had been less than five years but Matt understood what he had meant. That time passed more slowly in small towns like this barely on the map while in metropolises like where Matt lived, it sped by too quickly to believe.

"I'm sorry to hear about your dad," Jack said, "You have my condolences."

Matt nodded.

"How's your father doing," he said.

"Still going strong but he's finally ceded his spot to his son."

Matt followed Jack into his office.

"You're here about C.J.'s case, aren't you?"

"They arrested her in L.A. in the office," he said, "and extradited her quickly here even though they had only discovered Dylan's body barely a month earlier."

Jack scratched the back of his neck as he gestured for Matt to sit down.

"Well in this case, the evidence pointed to her," he said, "I wish it didn't but there you have it."

Matt just stared at him.

"Evidence," he said, "All they found was the necklace."

"That's true…at least until the DNA results come in," Jack said, "You might not like to hear this and lord knows I don't like saying it, but it looks like she killed Dylan."

"Why would she do that?"

Jack sighed.

"You don't know about the two of them?"

Matt leaned back in his chair, checking out all of the certificates and awards given to Jack hanging on the wall. Mixed in were several photos that looked like they were family captured at various social events.

"How's the wife doing," Matt asked, "Eloise, her name is, isn't it?"

Jack nodded.

"Wife and kids are doing great," he said, "They're on the coast at the summer house."

"And you're here working…"

"Well Matt, I've got the Dylan case and several others," he said, "No rest for the D.A. until people stop committing crimes."

"People like C.J."

Jack sighed again.

"Matt, she was the last one seen with Dylan," he said, "and they weren't acting friendly towards each other."

"That makes sense because she didn't like him Jack and he wouldn't leave her alone."

"Nadine his wife said that she pursued him," Jack said, "although she's been known to exaggerate on some matters."

Matt wondered how Jack had reached that assessment of her.

"Nadine had plenty of motives to kill him," he said, "Why isn't she being investigated?"

Jack clasped his hands on the desk.

"Every possible suspect has been investigated Matt, but we keep returning to C.J. as the primary one."

Matt just didn't understand that at all. In the past few days, he had run into numerous people led by Nadine that could have gotten the job done. Dylan hadn't seemed to be that popular in town, being some sort of ladies man while flaunting it at his wife and Matt knew Nadine was capable of a lot including possibly murder if she had been filled with rage at his dalliances.

Then again Nadine dallied as well with more than a few of the town's eligible and not so eligible men. After all, he had known that from experience when he had hit the sheets with her before heading off into the military and when he had returned with Christina. Nadine had pursued him paying little mind to the fact that he had been in a serious relationship with someone else

Then again even he had lapsed in that area himself while in town not that his relationship with Christina hadn't been in serious trouble to begin with. But when they connected again while he helped clear her of a murder frame up, they had come to terms with the past and she had fallen in love with and eventually married a senator in Washington, D.C.

"Matt, you do know about the report she filed on him?"

Matt returned back to the present which had him in the office sitting with Jack who looked at him pointedly.

"What report?"

"You'd better ask her about it," he said, "Suffice it to say she made an allegation against the now dead man and it was investigated."

"What was investigated?"

Jack sighed, resting his head back on his hands.

"Like I said, you'll have to ask her but it didn't exactly help her when we were searching for murder suspects."

"You're wrong about Dylan's killer," Matt said, "C.J. didn't do it and the real murderer is probably still hanging around town throwing out red herrings to conveniently pad your case."

Jack shook his head.

"What do you take me for," he asked, "I could see a false lead coming a mile away."

"I don't think so Jack," Matt said, "After all, someone's just bought you hook, line and sinker. You know your father was a lot smarter than you're acting now."

Jack's eyes changed suddenly looking a lot less friendly.

"Who are you to judge," he said, "You don't have a law degree and the expectations of the voters on your shoulders every day."

Matt knew that the voters hadn't been the one that had put his friend into power; it had been the ruling cabal that had anointed the son after the father's days of reign had ended. A bunch of older men of privilege and wealth fighting for the scraps of power in a small town which didn't impress Matt all that much because he had been around the world and had seen real power welded. In the business sphere, he held more power than these folks did in the political.

But he wasn't the type to rub it in even though he wanted to with Jack if just to get to see him other alternatives than C.J. as Dylan's killer.

"Are we done here Matt," Jack said, "because as much as I'd like to shoot the breeze with you about old times, I've got tons of work to do."

Matt started to rise then he paused.

"Dylan…he worked for your office didn't he?"

Jack's mouth tightened.

"Worked for me, what do you mean, he's just a ranch hand?"

"And he also worked as a reserve deputy for the sheriff's department," Matt added, "You work with that department don't you to build your cases."

"Well yes…but we didn't work with Dylan."

Matt noticed that the timbre of his friend's voice had shifted slightly, enough to tell him his suspicions were at least close.

"Did he do odd jobs for your office?"

Jack covered his unease with a smile that looked a bit forced.

"Of course not…we occasionally bumped into each other but Wild Fork's a small town…everybody meets up with everyone else at one time or another."

"I'm betting it was more than once with the two of you," Matt prodded, "Did he do the jobs for you that no one else would touch?"

Jack blanched at that point and his voice trembled.

"I think you'd better leave now," he said, "And tell C.J. that we'll see her and her attorney at the prelim."

With that, Matt knew he had been dismissed but that it hadn't mattered. He definitely knew that Jack was hiding something in his history with the deceased.

* * *

C.J. had helped Roy with the yearlings that Bo and Lamar had placed in the paddock. They sorted them out and after handling a few of them, C.J. knew that the two men had put their eye for good horse flesh to good use while Roy had been away from his spread. In between, she and Roy had talked about the town and how little it had changed.

"Nadine sure hasn't changed," C.J. said, "She's still after Matt and her husband's just been buried last week."

That had been when Nadine had finally been able to gain custody of her husband's body from the coroner's office after the last of the forensic tests had been completed.

"Women like her become…shall we say…fixed in what works for them."

Definitely true about Nadine, C.J. thought, remembering how she had hung out with Matt and had actually lasted longer than some of the other women he had bedded. But she really didn't seem to miss her husband all that much. Maybe in part because he had after all, been missing in action for several years before the discovery of his impromptu grave.

"I wish she could have kept her husband busy enough to leave the rest of us alone," she said quietly.

Roy looked over at where she now sat on the rail of the paddock fence.

"The suspect list for his killing should be a fairly long one," he said, "but Nadine should be at the top of it."

C.J. sighed.

"But she's not, it's me and I'm not saying I didn't want to do it…but I didn't…I couldn't have done it."

Roy knew that but it had just been between the two of them for all this time, a chapter which had been closed or so she thought.

So she had hoped.

"Matlock's very taken with you," he said, "It took him long enough."

She chuckled.

"It took me longer," she said, "He'd been making overtures for a while but I kept him at bay."

Roy nodded and she smiled.

"Not surprising considering our somewhat…interesting history."

Matt's uncle shrugged.

"History matters in different ways but it's what you do with the here and now that's important."

C.J. definitely couldn't argue with that, but the uncertainty of the future could hold a person back as well. She didn't want to let herself fall in deeper with her lifelong friend only to lose him forever if she wound up being convicted of Dylan's murder.

"It's the future that scares me."

Roy's face grew earnest.

"C.J., you're not going to prison," he said, "We're going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen."

She sighed.

"I know but they really believe they've built this strong case against me," she said, "And I did have motive because at the time he disappeared, I wanted him gone."

Roy shook his head.

"You wanted him to stop hurting you and there's a difference."

She rubbed her eyes.

"The DA's office doesn't see it that way," she said, "and I used to work for Jack until…"

Well until she had stopped working for him and no doubt, her ex-boss was finding ways to use that against her as well, anything to strengthen his case.

"Matt's hoping to find some more information from Jack," Roy said, "that he had ties to Dylan."

"I wouldn't be surprised," C.J. said, "Dylan got away with an awful lot."

She jumped off the rail and walked back into the house.

She later drove to Alexis' salon to get her hair done, because she needed something to get her mind off of the case and because she wanted to catch up with an old friend. Alexis had been happy to see her and told her that business had been slow for a while so she could easily fit her in. C.J. didn't want anything complicated, just a trim and maybe some highlights. She rarely had the time in L.A. with her workload to have her hair done.

Alexis set to work on it happily enough, telling C.J. as she had before that she had beautiful hair. C.J. had been a bit nervous at first because she and Alexis hadn't gotten along so well the last time she had been in town but her friend appeared genuinely happy that she had dropped back in Wild Fork, circumstances aside of course.

"You hadn't missed that much of course," she said, "Everything's done slower in a town like this one, even time."

"It sure hasn't changed much," C.J. said, "except for the construction."

Alexis nodded.

"They were going to put a mall there until…Dylan turned up."

C.J. thought it had been the perfect place to dump his body where no one would easily find it under a few feet of dirt. After all, the lot had remained empty used only for the kids to play on until a developer got his hands on it with visions of revitalizing Wild Fork in his head.

C.J. sighed; to revitalize a town implied that it had a history of life whereas Wild Fork had never been anything but what it remained today.

Alexis snipped some hair off as she chatted about who had married whom and did what, when to who since C.J. had last dropped by. None of the news surprised C.J. much because people pretty much behaved as predicted just as their parents and grandparents had done before them.

Except for her of course.

"I'm a bit surprised you two wound up together," Alexis said, "but in a good way."

"I'm surprised too," C.J. admitted, "but we've been friends forever and we worked together to build two businesses."

"I read about his corporation in the national news sometimes," Alexis said, "Since he's a local success story, the rag takes his stories right off the wire."

"We've been working pretty hard at it," C.J. said, "But he gave up being CEO and now runs his investigative firm."

Alexis shrugged.

"He's always been good at finding things, and finding out about them too."

C.J. nodded, thinking that skill of his had only grown better over the years he had spent honing what he had been trained in military intelligence to use to help those who came to him with perplexing cases to solve.

"Well we've really enjoyed it," she said, "and somehow we found each other."

Alexis smiled.

"That's great," she said, "So are you going to get married…when all this murder business is over and done with."

C.J. hedged and shook her head.

"We just got together," she said, "Trying to figure out how to make it work."

"Doesn't take much of that if you've known someone for a long time," Alexis pointed out.

"It's different when the relationship changes," C.J. said, "not that I'm complaining."

Alexis fluffed up her hair and started mixing up the colors for the highlights.

"So what's Matt think about these murder charges?"

"He knows that I didn't kill Dylan," C.J. said, "and he's helping me clear my name."

Alexis started in on the coloring.

"Most people know you didn't kill him," she said, "I think they think Nadine popped him off in a rage because he cheated on her again."

C.J. sighed because she knew that wasn't all he had done to Nadine. Who might not be one of her favorite people in the world but who hadn't deserved it and she thought that part of Nadine's problem with her now was that she knew it.

"Houston's been great at flying out here with his uncle and staying with me since my bail release doesn't allow me to leave the county," she said, "We could all be here for months."

"He's always cared about you," Alexis noted, "He wouldn't be anywhere else."

"My lawyer's pushing for a quick prelim and he hopes the judge will rule in our favor and that will be the end of it," C.J. said.

Alexis looked skeptical.

"And who do the judges work for in this town?"

Damn, her friend had a point. Everyone in power was interconnected with someone else and it was downright incestuous in some cases.

"I heard Matt was at the Wrangler last night and got into it with Zeke…"

"That's true, I was with him."

Alexis nodded.

"Yeah you had a starring role in the rumor mill," she said, "Zeke came onto you and Matt jumped in and defended your honor."

C.J. suppressed a chuckle marveling at the hive of activity that generated in a small town's rumor mill.

"He did slam Zeke against a wall after he touched me," she said, "but no one sent the night in jail or anything."

Alexis shook her head.

"I can tell things are going to get exciting with the two of you around."

"I just want my life back so we can go home," C.J. said, "No offense."

"None taken," Alexis said, "I don't plan on spending my whole life here either."

* * *

C.J. returned back to the ranch and Roy had gone out to help Bo and Lamar water the horses as an intense heat had baked the town. Summer had always been the time of year when most of the town's population that could get away, did retreat to the gulf coast to enjoy the somewhat cooler temperatures. Not that it didn't get hot even at the beaches but not like the oven that Wild Fork could be in the middle of summer.

She ran into Matt in the kitchen where he had poured himself some tea. His shirt still remained dampened by sweat so she could tell he'd been working.

"How are the horses doing?"

"They finished up for now until it gets cooler," he said, "But the two hands have done a great job."

She nodded and his eyes narrowed.

"You look…different."

She smiled at him and shrugged.

"I just had Alexis do my hair while I pumped info out of her," she said, "the rumor mill's already hopping with what happened at the Wrangler."

"Not much…I just put a guy in his place and told him to keep his hands to himself."

She wrapped her own arms around his waist and looked up at him.

"Yes you did," she said, "because the only hands I want to feel on my skin are yours."

He brushed her lightly on her mouth with his own and then deepened the kiss. She closed her eyes, whirling in the sensations that filled her. He stroked her mouth after they broke apart.

"I always did enjoy this…"

She looked up at him.

"Me too…"

He rubbed her back with his fingers as they held each other.

"Every time we were together, it was so wonderful…well maybe not for Christina that last time."

He brushed the hair off of her face.

"Christina and I had our own problems that had nothing to do with you," he said, "It wasn't ever going to work out between us."

She looked at him and knew he meant it but her mind still went back to that night and its aftermath… which seemed suddenly like yesterday when for most of the time, it had felt as if it were in the distant past…


	19. Chapter 19

Another update for this rather strange FF story. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for the feedback.

* * *

The sun baked the valley as if often did, showing no mercy to its residents, animal or human. The monsoons had begun to break up the monotony of the summer heat but didn't last long enough to restore the parched soil back to life. C.J. had taken one of Roy's horses out to check the fencing after hearing complaints from neighboring ranches that some prowlers had been seen lately. No livestock had turned up missing yet but the ranchers suspected that rustling had once again returned to their region.

Roy and C.J. had met with the ranch hands including Bo and Lamar and had decided to set up shifts during the night hours to keep an eye for anything suspicious but so far, there hadn't been much to report except some wildlife scattering in the bushes. But it had been better to be safe than sorry, and when C.J. took her turn at night watch, she carried her gun with her.

Tonight, the moonlight streamed through the throng of dogwood trees that centered the meadow area where the grass and wild flowers that cloaked it had died off months ago. The air remained thick with heat soaked in dampness after the afternoon storm had passed and C.J. wiped her brow with her handkerchief as she had been doing all evening. She looked over at the partner on the security detail who sat on horseback.

"Houston, I don't see a damn thing out there," she said, tugging on her reins a bit, "Looks quiet to me."

He just threw her a look.

"Too quiet if you ask me."

She studied his face beneath his favorite worn hat. A hint of shadow showed on it and his eyes looked tired. He had flown in several days earlier after a business meeting on his jet to help his uncle out and frankly to get away from the chaotic nature of his urban lifestyle. He had hoped that Christina would come with him but she had begged off on a modeling job that she said would make or break her career. So they had both packed their suitcases and had left separately, she with her agent to head off to Seattle and he, to return to his hometown of Wild Fork, Texas. And he had been doing his time on lookout detail along with everyone else.

Things hadn't been all that great between the two of them since they had moved to California. The headiness of their romantic interludes during his military stint in various ports had been replaced by the competing natures of their very different lifestyles. Not that they had fought, hell they hardly ever had cross words with each other and maybe that in itself was a problem. Every couple fought from time to time but maybe she had been too reluctant to rock the boat by bringing up issues and he had been too wary of stirring the pot either.

Not to mention they were both so caught up in their careers, they hardly saw each other and more often than not when Matt came home to their rental place, silence greeted him along with perhaps a note from Christina that she had a job to finish and would be back later that night. The note that she wrote to him telling him she needed to have some space from him for a while caught him off guard. One reason she had opted for the modeling job in Seattle, he guessed.

Much later, as it turned out, not that Matt had been innocent in that regard. His new business had taken off so quickly, he had been busy interviewing and hiring new employees to help shift the workload off of his shoulder. The there had been the obligatory call or email to C.J. to reconsider her stance in not coming to work with him.

But the moment he had stepped off the plane onto the tarmac under the sizzling heat, he had put all his problems behind him and had refocused on just doing whatever was necessary to help his uncle and C.J. on the ranch.

And that's what he looked forward to most of all was seeing his best friend again. The last time they had parted had been after the two of them had brokered an understanding of sorts that he would butt out of judging her over her decision making about her own life. When he had driven up to Roy's ranch and had seen her out in front directing Bo and Lamar on some planting in the front drive, he had left his car and had gone over to embrace her. Holding her tight, he realized how much he had missed her and that her form against his own just felt too damn good.

She had put her hands on his broad chest and looked at him.

"You look good," she said, "Your uncle will be glad to see you."

"I can't stay long," he told her, "I heard there have been some problems with rustlers."

She had shrugged.

"You know how it goes," she said, "A lot of suspicion but nothing solid so far and no thefts."

"Sheriff been notified?"

She snorted.

"Like he gives a damn," she said, "Not unless you're a rancher who kicks back some money into his reelection campaign."

Matt knew the score that had dictated law enforcement service in Wild Fork and in other places served by the county sheriff's department. If you paid into the sheriff's war chest, you had regular patrols in your area. If not, you were on your own and were lucky if they even came out within the hour if you called them for help. Long ago, the area ranchers had put together their own security teams and they took care at looking out for each other.

"The police are useless around here and always have been," she said, quietly running her hand through her hair.

"I can help the few days I'll be here…"

"What about Christina," C.J. said, "I thought she would have been with you. Not that she seems to like the ranching lifestyle that much but she seems to care for you."

"She had a job in Seattle," he said, "She couldn't turn it down."

C.J. digested that and then took him by the hand.

"Come on, we'll get you settled."

They walked into the house together.

* * *

Now several days and nights later, they had ridden out together on horseback to face the long hours of darkness which might be hiding some rustlers who might be intent on doing harm. But so far all it had been was quiet. But they both knew better than to be lulled into a false sense of security.

"Bo did say that he saw something the other night," he said.

"Probably his own shadow Houston," she said, "Why are you out here anyway? You could have gone to Seattle with your girlfriend."

He sighed.

"I've been worried about Uncle Roy since Will's death and what's been going on with Aunt Flo…"

"She's doing much better," C.J. said, "She might be coming home soon."

"And I've been concerned about you."

She heard that in his voice but really there hadn't been any reason to be worried because she was doing just fine. She spent her days working hard under the summer sun on the ranch, forgetting everything else and at night, well when things got really quiet and her thoughts threatened to intrude, she just did the best she could to push them away.

But still, they directed her dreams.

"Houston, I'm fine…I've just been working hard on these horses."

He looked at her a long moment, taking in the strong features of her face that had been framed with mahogany hair that had felt as soft and as smooth as silk beneath his fingers. She wore her custom uniform of jeans faded to a pale blue and tonight, a cotton shirt with long sleeves.

"Houston…what's the matter?"

He looked away then.

"Nothing…maybe we'd better ride by the south side."

She thought about it and nodded and they both chirped to their horses to get moving along.

C.J. took out two sandwiches from her saddlebag and tossed one to Matt. He caught it deftly and they both started hitting their coffee as well as they sat beneath a tree. Behind them, they could hear the small stream burble through the rocks as it cut across the ranch.

Silence fell between them broken only by the sound of crickets chirping as they ate their food. She decided to break it.

"Houston, it's really good to see you again," she said, "I'm sorry about not keeping in touch."

He looked over at her.

"You've been busy here…I've been busy there…and we're together now."

She smiled.

"How does Christina feel about you coming here?"

Matt paused. A delicate subject indeed and one without an easy answer.

"She didn't object to me coming if that's what you're thinking," he said, "but she wasn't very happy about it."

C.J. sighed, trying to find the words.

"What about you," she said, "How's it been for you coming back here?"

He chewed his sandwich thinking about that too.

"I couldn't stay away," he said, "I had to come back."

She shifted her position.

"Houston, your uncle's doing fine, really he is. It's been hard but he's getting plenty of support here."

"C.J…"

"Flo's coming home soon from the hospital…"

"That's not it," he said suddenly, "I had to see you."

She tilted her face.

"Because of what happened last time," she said, "Nothing happened…well not really."

"I think a lot did."

She rubbed her eyes.

"You were lonely…Christina had just left the ranch to go back to L.A…we were in the barn and one thing led to another…"

"Is that how you read what happened?"

She sighed.

"Houston, I think we both were right to stop what we were doing," she said, "What we were about to do."

Not that it had been easy as she had remembered, because once she had felt his lips on her own, she didn't want to stop the progression of what she had been pushing back at for so long. How was a woman supposed to think rationally when a man like him had pressed her against the bales of hay and started doing these incredible things with his hands? She certainly wasn't a saint but somehow amid the flood of pleasurable sensations hitting her, a moment of clarity had slipped through and reminded her that he had a girlfriend a thousand miles away.

"It wasn't because I was upset with Christina, or even missing her," he said, "It was because I remembered that weekend we had spent together."

She had remembered it all too well herself but some years had passed and people had walked in and out of their lives, relationships changed and they had simply remained friends who lived in two different places apart from one another. And truthfully, her pushing him away from her that night hadn't been entirely out of concern for Christina. She had her own reasons, not that she could ever share them with him. That at the same time she had been physically drawn to him and how he could make her feel, she had been frightened as well.

Because she had looked into his eyes and for a moment saw someone else there.

"Houston, that's in the past," she said, "We were both free then and a bit footloose, having some fun before following our separate paths."

"We came back to the same place."

"Yes we did," she said, "but you had Christina and I…"

She stopped talking then, just playing with the wrapper of her sandwich.

"And you what," he prompted.

She bit her lip.

"Let's just say that life was a bit complicated back then," she said, "So much had happened."

He paused.

"I wouldn't know that because you never shared that with me, about what's been happening with you."

That had been the truth, she remembered, but back then he had returned to the ranch to recover from his own injuries and she had been in the middle of her own situation, trying to figure it all out.

"Nothing…at least nothing worth talking about now while sitting in the middle of the night listening to crickets."

He heard the defensiveness in her voice and sipped his coffee.

"Obviously."

Her face softened then.

"But we were right not to take it any further than we did…"

"I wasn't thinking about her that night," he said, "Maybe I should have been but all I wanted in the world was right in front of me."

She sighed, because those words had been running through her mind amidst all the emotion between them. His lips on her own had been gentle at first, then the kiss deepened and she felt herself losing herself in him. The straw from the bale dug into her back but she dismissed it, as his lips moved down her neck and her own hands stroked his hair.

"Me too….but it didn't change anything."

And she had stopped it, because her body had tensed against his and he'd seen something cross her face that made him pull away. Adjusting his shirt he had watched her carefully but whatever had caught his attention had faded away.

"There was something else there with us," he said, "or someone."

She just looked at him funny.

"What are you talking about," she asked.

"I saw it on your face," he said, "after that kiss in the barn. You pushed me away."

She shook her head.

"I didn't do that," she said, "You backed off before I could do anything."

"Because you didn't see me, you saw someone else."

She looked at him shocked and he knew that he had really caught her off guard. Well good then, because maybe she would just tell him what had been going on with her.

"Did I do or say something that scared you?"

She just stared at him and he saw something familiar there for an instant before she had pushed it away and replaced it with something that if it weren't anger, it was close.

"Why do you ask something like that," She said, "Nothing scares me…certainly not you."

Matt watched the emotions on her face change with his eye, sharp for detail. He knew there was a lot that she didn't say but the more he pushed, the more she would push back and then they'd reach an impasse. He didn't want her angry with him during the short time they had left to spend together.

"But someone did…"

She just looked away from him out into the quietness that surrounded them.

* * *

Matt had received a phone message from Christina that said she had finished the job in Seattle but would be heading off to visit some friends in Michigan for a while. The reason being that she needed some time to think about her future and whether or not it included him. He had thought about calling her back about it but had stopped himself because what had struck him when he had heard her words on the voice mail hadn't been just concern but that which had been laced with relief.

He had gotten up early and headed to the barn where he saw C.J. saddling up her own horse, her back towards him.

"Nadine called…"

Matt led the gelding out to be tacked up.

"What did she want?"

C.J. suppressed a smile at the wariness in his voice.

"To get into your pants, what do you think?"

Matt sighed.

"She's married."

"That's never stopped her before," she said, "Didn't stop him either."

"Dylan never did strike me as the family type especially taking off like he did."

C.J.'s expression hardened.

"No one's seen her husband in a long time now," she said, "He probably high tailed it on out of here for something better."

"Still he's been gone a long time and no word?"

She shrugged as they both took their horses outside.

"I'm heading to the south meadow," she said, "You doing the eastern side?"

He nodded.

"I'll meet you back by the stream later on."

She got on her horse and with a tug of the reins, took off.

He watched her go wondering why all the mystery with her since he had returned. Last time, her mood had appeared to change with the wind which hadn't ever been like her.

Not at all but the woman who had greeted him when he arrived at his uncle's ranch had been an enigma as well.

* * *

C.J. found some rotted posts when she reached the pasture but she had brought some tools to nail them up until they could be replaced with new wood. Bo and Lamar had headed off to the lumbar supply yard to fetch them enough to handle the fencing issues that they would likely encounter. The patch up jobs would hold until then.

She had been nailing the wood, feeling a gentle breeze against the back of her neck and listening to the birds flying in and out of the brush and trees. Matt had certainly not seemed happy this morning about something, maybe it had to do with Christina. She knew the model had hated being on the ranch and probably found any excuse to stay away. Well, Matt would be returning to her in a couple days and their lives could get back to normal.

And so could hers at least with what passed for normal these days.

The sweat trickled on the back of her neck and she reached for her handkerchief when she heard it.

"_C.J…"_

She stopped working and stiffened, listening further.

"_I'm over here waiting…"_

Her body filled with fear followed by adrenalin.

"Dylan?"

She heard the laughter suddenly as he approached her from the darkness. The look on his face…she backed away further. The odor of stale sweat and alcohol reaching her, making her mind swim.

"What are you doing here?"

"_I'm looking for my wife…"_

She closed her eyes then, waiting for him to touch her but nothing happened. A moment passed and when she opened them again, she saw nothing but the area around her. She shook her head, hating the flashbacks. Nothing could get rid of them; they just sprung up right in front of her at any time, leaving her feeling helpless all over again. When she was by herself out working or trying to sleep…when she had been with others…and when she had been with Matt. That last part had been the hardest part of all and if he knew…no she could never tell him.

Because it hadn't been him, it had been her.

* * *

Matt rode up to the stream and saw her there already, sitting a short distance from where she had tied up her horse. He dismounted and tied up his horse close to hers, then walked up to her.

"Mind if I join you?"

She smiled at him and shook her head.

"It's damn hot today," he said, "I'd forgotten what real heat was like."

"It just smothers you like a thick jacket this time of year," she said, "but the rains are nice."

He sat there silently for a while and she knew something nagged at him.

"Houston, what's going on?"

He picked up a pebble and tossed it in the water.

"It's Christina…she's going from Seattle to Michigan to spend some time with friends."

"So…she'll be back home at some point…"

"I'm not sure that she's coming back," Matt said, "at least not to me."

C.J. furrowed her brow.

"But things were going so great between the two of you…"

"Not really," he said, "We're so different in many ways, not the least of which is that I love being on a ranch and she's a city girl."

C.J. nodded.

"That she is," she said, "so what are you going to do?"

He paused.

"I'm going to live my life," he said, "and we'll talk when she comes back to figure out where we stand. But I think it's been over between us longer than we wanted to admit."

C.J. knew that Matt had really cared about Christina. They had been college sweethearts until their disparate goals had split them apart. Now after reconnecting again, they faced a similar outcome.

"I'm sorry…"

He studied her face and reached out to touch it.

"I'm not…"

He then reached over to kiss her.


	20. Chapter 20

Another up, hope you enjoy.

* * *

She woke up nestled in his arms and for a moment, forgot everything else.

C.J. smiled as she felt his body stir next to her own and his soft breath against her skin.

"Houston, you up?"

"Just about," he said, moving about while careful not to let her go.

"Thanks for last night."

"C.J…we didn't do very much," he said, "We just slept together."

"We what…because I don't remember anything," she said, "just that I fell asleep feeling really good."

They had stayed up late last night talking about anything but the idea of her losing her freedom if she were convicted of Dylan's murder. But it had proven to be so hard for her to stop thinking about all she had to lose including the man with his arms wrapped around her. Because life wasn't fair for that to happen after it had taken them so long to find each other.

So they had slept together…well not really but it had been nice anyway.

"I forgot to tell you last night," she said, "Your confrontation with Zeke had hit the rumor mill. Alexis told me she heard about it."

"It's always been a small town and not much else to do when the sun goes down."

She wiggled around to face him.

"Oh really…"

He smiled and they kissed. As he smoothed her hair back with his fingers, she closed her eyes.

"Houston…"

"Mmmm… what?"

"About last night," she said, "I'm sorry, I…I love the way you make me feel but…"

He kissed her forehead.

"You're not ready for more and that's okay C.J.," he said, "I know how hard this has been for you."

She sighed.

"I can't think ahead to the rest of my life with this hanging over me," she said, "And you're part of that future that I want so much."

"C.J…you're not going to go down for this," he said, "We're going to get these charges dropped and find the real killer."

"I know…but if someone's been framing me, they've been doing a great job," she said, "and I don't know who would want to do that."

"Nadine maybe…"

"I don't know…she was really angry at Dylan for cheating on her and for other things…but he had other people mad at him."

"If he blackmailed people," Matt said, "I didn't get anywhere with Jack. He always acts like he's running for office."

"He always is Houston," she said, "the life of a politician involves figuring out how to say in power. And this time, he wants to be the state attorney general."

"A high profile murder conviction would benefit him," Matt said, "but he must know the risks of putting his eggs in that basket."

"That's if he loses or gets embarrassed at trial and the press picks up on it," she said, "then that might derail his election prospects."

"He's definitely connected to Dylan in some way," Matt said, "He got so defensive when I brought him up."

"I suspected they were," she said, "but I need proof and that's a long way off."

* * *

She had wondered how his meeting with Jack had gone because when they had met up again, they had just wanted to forget all that for a while and spend time together. They had been outside on the veranda doing some kissing and more talking and she felt incredibly happy and secure, but the uncertain future always waited on the edges of everything else waiting to take it away. She had a lot of faith in Matt and Roy as well as Rusty to help her but she still felt the pressure she faced in the days and weeks ahead.

"You remember any contacts between them when you worked for Jack?"

C.J. furrowed her brow.

"I think I heard Dylan's voice a couple times but I didn't check to see for sure," she said, "I wouldn't think they'd necessarily want to be seen together. They certainly didn't circulate in the same crowd."

No, they hadn't, Matt thought. Jack had spent most of his time hanging with his father and his political circle learning the ropes for the purpose of following in his father's footsteps.

"So do you think Jack could have done it," C.J. asked.

"Possibly or he could have hired someone to keep his hands clean," Matt said, "I like to say he wouldn't but at this point, we can't eliminate anyone."

C.J. extricated herself from his embrace and slipped out of bed. He just looked at her.

"Where you off to," he asked.

She smiled back at him.

"I'm still dressed," she said.

"I noticed."

"And we've got to get some breakfast and go out and help Bo and Lamar with the horses."

He sat up in the bed while she gathered some things and headed to the shower. The morning would pass quickly with the work that they had to do with the ranch hands and then maybe this afternoon, they could set out to see if they could examine the lot where Dylan's remains had been found.

But he hadn't worked with horses in a while since he had moved off of his ranch to adopt the more urban lifestyle so he looked forward to it.

* * *

C.J. met him in the kitchen to fix up a mess of eggs and bacon before setting on outside. Bo and Lamar awaited them in the kitchen and Matt caught them disagreeing on which yearling would garner the highest price in the auction ring.

"Guys, I looked them over," C.J. said, "and I don't think that's an argument that can be settled in a kitchen."

Bo looked up at her.

"That 'ol Wild Cat stud sired some good looking colts," he said, "But they inherited his temperament."

This meant they could be a handful and unpredictable to boot when it came to training them. But then you always had to be careful around purebred quarter horse yearlings no matter what bloodlines ran through their veins and she had the scars to prove it. Still she enjoyed the challenge of working with such beautiful and spirited creatures and she knew Matt did too.

At least here she didn't have to worry about being the lone women in a bunch of men like she had in her younger days. Not that she hadn't been able to handle herself and most of them but at least now she didn't have to worry about that.

After they all ate a delicious breakfast, they headed towards the barn to get their horses so that they could ride out and find a small herd of yearlings to guide on back to the paddocks. C.J. tacked up a buckskin gelding that she had used the last time she had stayed here and Matt followed her with a roan mare.

A crisp morning greeted them although the sun had already begun its ascent and its assault on the valley. C.J. clucked to her horse and rode off and Matt did the same.

The yearlings, in different shades hung out near where the remaining grass grew under the shade of several trees. They rode their horses on the perimeter of their group.

"I'll take this side," C.J. said.

Matt nodded and took the other flank. The yearlings stopped nibbling in unison and just looked at them but not too warily.

"They're pretty aren't they?"

"Sure are," Matt said, "They've done a good job since Uncle Roy's been away."

The yearlings finally got a move on trotting in more or less a straight line as they headed back to the paddock areas.

"I miss horses."

Matt heard the wistfulness in her voice. He had a bunch on his ranch outside of L.A. but had sold them with the ranch.

"My uncle can sell you one at a good price."

"The city's no place for them," she said, "though maybe… I sure miss that ranch."

"I only sold it because I didn't have time to tend it and Bo and Lamar had returned to Texas."

She nodded.

"I know…but I was just thinking that maybe when I get back to L.A., I'll look at some land."

"You looking to buy some?"

"Possibly," she said, "If I get out of all this of course. I'd love to buy a spread out of the city and raise some horses, just a small band and maybe have a garden."

"You have done some thinking," he said, "It's be a great place to raise a family someday."

Her mouth widened into a smile.

"Oh it would, would it?"

"Plenty of clean air and open space to run around in," he said, "Best way to grow up."

She agreed.

"So how many kids do you think?"

He thought about it.

"Six or seven…"

Her mouth fell open and then she saw the merriment in his eyes.

"Well maybe not quite that many," he said, "but I missed having siblings growing up."

"Me too," she said, "So maybe we can start at two or three and negotiate from there.

"Fair enough, sounds like a plan."

C.J. felt some hesitation at that word because it implied thinking about the future, that she and they had one together. She could almost see it but then reality interrupted.

He smiled widely and pulled his rein short on his mare as they reached the paddocks.

* * *

Later, she and Matt got in the truck and headed out towards the vacant lot where they had discovered Dylan's body. The lot had been purchased by an out of town developer with plans to enliven Wild Fork by building a strip mall. Of course, after the discovery of a body had turned it into a crime scene, those plans had to wait. Matt saw the dirt spit of land that had been ripped up in spots by a bulldozer and he saw an area that had been cordoned off with crime scene tape.

"Must be where the body turned up," he said.

"Everyone used to play pick up baseball or football games here," C.J. said, "but someone clearly thought it would keep their secret."

"It nearly did," Matt said, "If someone hadn't come here with plans to turn this into another Abilene…"

C.J. just looked out towards the pile of dirt and rocks that sat on the ground, waiting for cleanup. Thinking that Dylan's grave hadn't been the only secret left there. He had taken others with him when he met his violent end.

A car pulled up behind and then beside them. They looked at the deputy who sat behind the wheel of the squad car. He didn't look too friendly.

"What are you doing here," he said.

"Just driving through," Matt said, "It's a public street the last time I checked."

"Well she's a prime murder suspect so she shouldn't be anywhere around here."

"Said who," C.J. asked, "My bail terms state I just can't leave the county without permission from the judge."

The deputy looked antsy but at least he didn't have his hands near his gun as far as Matt could tell.

"Look are you going to sit here and interview us or are you going to go about and do your job?"

"This is my job," he said, "MY assignment is to provide security in this area."

"From what," Matt said, "All the possible evidence has already been removed and catalogued."

"It's on order of the Sheriff and the D.A."

C.J. and Matt looked at each other.

"What exactly is going on here Deputy…Chavez?"

"Nothing…just doing my job."

Matt looked at the young man and wondered if he had ever seen him before.

"How long have you been working here?"

Chavez just frowned at them.

"Three years."

So no, Matt hadn't met the guy before, it figured.

"You never met or worked with Dylan then."

The deputy shook his head.

"Before my time," he said, "but I heard he was only part-time."

Matt got the impression that meant that Chavez didn't consider Dylan real law enforcement.

"They said he had just split," Chavez said, "But I guess we all know where he really was all this time."

"I heard his personnel record wasn't so great."

Chavez narrowed his eyes.

"He had some complaints," he said, "We all get them. Some people usually bad guys just hate the cops."

"How many hated him," Matt pressed.

The deputy paused and Matt didn't know if he would answer.

"Just some drunks he kicked out of bars and some women needing attention…"

Matt looked up.

"You mean his wife?"

Chavez shrugged.

"You mean Nadine…yeah she showed up quite a bit…complaining about him…even that he hit her a couple of occasions…but you know how women act…"

No Matt didn't know but he decided that any reproaching of the deputy would have to wait. C.J. just looked like she wanted to dropkick him.

"Other women too?"

Chavez nodded.

"Just that he hit a couple of waitresses at the Wrangler when it was time to close," Chavez said, "when he got drunk."

C.J. remembered those days and she had heard about the assaults but nothing had ever been done and at least one waitress had gotten a larger bonus at Christmas that year.

"Then there was another woman who complained that he attacked her…not much there…"

Matt furrowed his brows.

"Any more information on that incident," he said, "like a date or name of the victim?"

Chavez shook his head.

"It wasn't viewed as being credible…"

Matt wondered why and looked over at C.J. but she just looked out the window. Chavez finally said he had to be leaving and just told them to be careful where they drove. Matt just watched him drive off down the street. He glanced over at C.J. who had been awfully quiet for a while.

"You okay?"

She didn't look at him but nodded.

"It seems that Dylan had a record of violence towards women…"

"So it seems…"

Matt digested that and what he heard in her voice. He worded his next question carefully.

"Is there anything about Dylan that you haven't told me?"


	21. Chapter 21

Another chapter up. Thanks for reading and the feedback...

* * *

The two of them sat in the bathroom, on the floor with their backs resting against the bathtub. C.J. had been so glad that Julia had come out to visit and had hugged her friend's frail body when she had disembarked from the airplane in Houston, and then they had driven back to Wild Fork to catch up on what each other had been doing.

For C.J. that had been a little awkward because Julia had known her well enough to know that something was up and forced the truth out of C.J. over ice cream in nothing flat. That she had been tired and not feeling particularly good. Not to mention that she had been a couple weeks late and that six weeks before…

"When you going to take the damn test," Julia asked.

C.J. nibbled the ice cream off of her spoon slowly, clearly still thinking up an answer.

"Because there's no reason to do so," she said, "I can't be pregnant."

Julia harrumphed.

"You mean you didn't have sex with anyone lately, that why?"

C.J. shook her head.

"Because we took precautions…"

Well, she had been on the pill anyway. If she were pregnant then she definitely wanted the money back on her prescription. But no, he hadn't used a condom if that's what Julia had been wanting to know because when they had gotten down to it, neither had one.

"We didn't expect to do anything," she said, "It just happened…"

"And so many a knocked up woman has told her doctor…"

"Hey, that's not me," C.J. said, "and that's how it did happen. We were just talking and his girlfriend just left him and then we kissed."

"One of you must have had some idea," she said, "to make that first move."

"He kissed me and then things kind of…progressed from there."

And oh they did, she thought back to when they had been sitting together at their favorite spot by the stream. But not so quickly that one of them, she couldn't remember who, had suggested they head on back to the barn first.

"Does this guy have a name?"

Then she saw C.J.'s expression and her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"No way…you and …him?"

C.J. just remained silent.

"I mean it couldn't be anybody else," Julia continued, "So what has he got to say about all this?"

C.J. put her ice cream down.

"He doesn't know."

"What?"

"He flew back to L.A. remember," she said, "He left her a job offer and I'm thinking about taking it but if I were…pregnant, that might complicate things a lot."

"Why, you two obviously care about each other…as everyone knows and you're further along in your relationship…than I guessed but you can work it out."

C.J. ran her hand through her hair as she had stretched out on the bed.

"It wasn't a serious relationship," she said, "We went back to the barn and had sex before either of us could stop ourselves…"

"Why would you do that anyway," Julia said, "You're both adults."

And C.J. remembered that her last thought in the barn would have been to halt what was happening, to stop themselves before they had taken some horse blankets into an empty stall. After they had spread them down on the straw, Matt had drawn her into his arms and kissed her again. Her heart raced against his chest as she placed her arms around him and drew him closer to her. After they broke from their kiss, he looked her in the eye.

"Are you sure about this," he asked, breathing unevenly.

She nodded and drew him close to her again and the blankets welcomed them both.

There had been much more than that but she kept those memories hidden from even herself, let alone her nosy friend who had been pestering her to run down to the drug store and get a pregnancy test. As if she would do that in a small town where everyone talked and where news of her purchase would surely hit the gossip stream before she'd even walked out of the store.

"I'll buy it for you," Julia said, "They don't know me at all."

* * *

C.J. felt foolish agreeing to her friend buying the test so she wouldn't feel like she had been wearing a scarlet letter and they had hit the road to the drug store before it closed and C.J. waited feeling very self-conscious in the car until Julia had brought out the brown bag and handed it to her only when she had gotten back in the passenger side.

"The cashier who looked barely out of junior high barely glimpsed twice."

They had gone back to the house but they had to wait until the following morning to take the test so they ate more ice cream on the back porch waiting for the sun to go down. Roy had come out to check on them but kept his distance, all too aware of the importance of their time together. She didn't know if the intuition honed by his years in covert operations had caused him to know more about her than he revealed, because that had happened before but she knew he would never pry either.

She tossed and turned most of that night, thinking about him where he lived over a thousand miles away. Christina hadn't returned and in fact had sent him an email that she would be moving to Paris to take some modeling gigs there including a lucrative one associated with a new perfume campaign. He had been happy for her because success had been what she wanted and they had drifted apart so much by then.

C.J. didn't believe that Matt had ever told Christina about what happened between them. IF they broke up, it wouldn't be an issue between them but it wouldn't draw them together either. Their lives still remained separate from one another and what they shared, a pleasurable interlude.

But a baby would change that and not necessarily in the right way.

"Would you not tell him," Julia had asked earlier.

"No, I would never keep it a secret," she said, "But just because we'd share a child, doesn't mean we get married or anything like that."

"He might want that."

C.J. had sighed.

"But that's not what I want," she said, "What I'd want for our child is two parents who love him and who could raise him together even they weren't together."

Julia rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Why don't you give him a chance to decide if he wants those terms," she said, "I think he cares about you a lot more than you give him credit for."

"I know he does," C.J. said, "but we've never been in love or anything like that and if I get married, I think that's what I want."

Julia looked surprised.

"I didn't have you pegged as a romantic," she said, "You've always been so pragmatic."

And C.J. had to agree with that, because she never felt like jumping into any relationship feet first. Even that offer she made to Matt during the end of their road trip, she had spent considerable time thinking about and how it would unfold. That she would leave him and go to law school having that memory of him and her making love in that cabin by the lake. And as it turned out, the reality had surpassed the planning.

But this had seemed much more complicated especially if the test that awaited her in the morning yielded a positive result. The next step would be trying to figure out how to tell him. She already worried about what kind of response she would receive, how he would react with the news.

Their baby wouldn't want for anything least of all their love but how would it impact their friendship that they both valued so much? She would go to California so they could raise their child together, separately but within the same state and somehow they would figure it all out. But she still wondered how.

* * *

Her sleep that night didn't provide an answer for her by morning's light. Julia had been sleepy eyed when C.J. had wakened her up and told her she had started the testing but had to await the results. They had gone to the bathroom and closed the door, settling themselves down on the floor and making themselves comfortable for the wait.

"How long has it been," C.J. asked.

Julia rolled her eyes.

"One minute since the last time you asked."

"Oh…sorry."

Julia rubbed her friend's shoulder.

"You're just nervous that's all," she said, "Whatever happens, it will be okay, if anyone can figure out what to do, it's you two."

C.J. knew rationally that Julia was right but emotionally, she hadn't been so sure. She wished on one level that Matt would embrace her and their child as his family and that he did love her that way, how he had showed her in the barn. In his arms, she had never felt so cherished and protected during a time she needed both and they had talked awhile afterward in the afterglow of what they shared before getting dressed and heading back to the house.

And then the next day he had left to go back home.

"I hope so," C.J. said, "But I don't know if I'm ready for all that…it's so much to deal with…for both of us."

"But you'll be together and you know he'll be there," Julia said, "and that's what counts."

They waited a few minutes and finally, C.J. couldn't wait any longer and she asked Julia to check the test for her while she closed her eyes and prayed.

Not for the test to be one way or the other but that she would be able to handle the reality of both outcomes.

Julia tried not to draw out the results too much.

"Let's see," she said, examining it closely, "it's…."

"Just tell me without the dramatics."

Julia smiled.

"You dodged a bullet girl," she said, "It's negative…"

"Oh…"

That's all she could say not sounding as relieved as she thought the news would leave her but she did believe that she could move on.

"You alright," Julia asked.

C.J. paused allowing the emotions to filter out and through her before nodding.

"I'm just fine…"

They stood up and left the bathroom after disposing of the test, heading back to get dressed and face the new day. C.J. heard her cell phone ring from the table next to her bed. She picked it up to see who was calling and clicked it on, smiling softly as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hi Houston…."


	22. Chapter 22

The latest installment of this story is up, hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading and the feedback!

* * *

She looked at Matt and realized that a while back he had asked her what had happened years ago between her and Dylan. The part of their interactions that she hadn't ever told him about, or anyone really for that matter.

He had dropped the issue after she didn't answer him in the car right away. But then there were other things that she had never told him, details more related to their own complicated relationship.

Like when she and Julia had been sitting in the bathroom just down the hallway from where she stayed now awaiting the results of a pregnancy test. But then she and Matt had never really discussed what they had shared that day inside the barn, both had walked away from it and kept their feelings about what transpired to themselves.

When it had meant more to her than she would admit even to herself, and it had brought a closeness to him that she had so desperately needed at that point in her life, so much so that even though it had ended there, it didn't matter so much.

She and Julia had gone down to breakfast after she discovered she hadn't been pregnant as if nothing had happened that morning at all. And then they had headed off to town, driving past the vacant lot which had hidden Dylan's remains without anyone but the killer being the wiser. She thought back now as to whether Nadine had known, whether Jack had known, whether anyone else had known the truth about what had happened to the troublemaking reserve deputy who had broken more laws than he had upheld.

As they drove to the local store, she had only glanced in passing at the lot, and hadn't noticed anything different about it at all. It lay unspoiled, untouched, a place for kids to congregate and play baseball or any other team sport they fancied.

She and Julia had a celebratory drink later that night only she hadn't really felt that elated at the news that she had dodged the bullet as Julia had put it. She felt as if another piece of her had been cut right out without knowing why she kept losing parts of herself. The town that raised her had clearly reclaimed her after she thought she had escaped to Boston but even as Matt tried to persuade her to come out to California and work with him, she found herself unable to move, frozen in one spot. Telling herself it was because she didn't want to come between him and Christina who had come and departed from his life a couple of times.

After the final breakup, Matt had headed off to Italy to check out some wineries that he wanted to add to his roster of investment opportunities and while stopping to chill on the island of Crete, he had encountered Serena, the heiress to a billion dollar empire run by her tyrant of a father. And with that postcard, she knew that Matt had become a player once again.

She broke from her reverie when Matt touched her on the arm.

"Hey want to head inside," he said, "It's looking like rain."

She nodded as she looked at the angry clouds filling what had been a pristine sky several hours earlier. But that was how summer passed in Wild Fork, the weather became as volatile as some of the people. He put his arm around her and they headed inside the house running into Roy who sat reading in the atrium.

"Nice to have real weather again," he said, looking up from his magazine.

"I remember how these storms can get," Matt said, "Very powerful in such a few moments."

He and C.J. headed to the kitchen to pour themselves some sweet tea, chilling in the refrigerator. Perfect for an afternoon like this one, they both thought as they headed to the library. The rain had already started streaming down the window and they heard thunder rumbling in the distance.

"At least we're both dry," he said, sipping his tea.

She chuckled.

"I remember all the days we spent out in storms like this one gathering livestock."

He did too and how hard they had both worked with the other ranch hands on his father's spread. It had been harder for C.J. being the only women who occasionally had to take charge when her uncle couldn't get out of his cabin to do his job. She had really covered him during the last few years of his life when she had been there and he had done that too. But her uncle had needed the job that he no longer could perform or he and maybe her would have been out on the street before long.

Now they sat together, a completely different lifetime later, and they were together, having decided that after trying out an assortment of relationships with other people, what they had wanted had been in front of them the whole time. They had just started to enjoy their discovery of new things about each other in a different light when her past had returned to haunt her. He stroked her hair out of her face and she leaned into his touch, as she often did. She loved the feel of his fingers, callused as they were, on her soft skin. And she wanted so much more than that but…the past, the future threatened to collide in a way that she felt keenly in the present.

"Houston…this means so much to me," she said, "Being here with you even with all that's going on."

He tilted her chin up and looked into her hazel eyes.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else," he said, "I just wish I'd figured it out sooner."

She sighed.

"Oh Houston, that doesn't matter," she said, "What matters is that we both figured it out finally."

He nodded and then he caressed her lips with his own and it only took a split second for the kiss to deepen. Her hands running through his hair, his body leaning against her and his lips traveling away from her mouth to that sensitive point below her ear. Her breath caught when he found it.

"Houston…"

"It's okay…"

The couch squeaked as they shifted their bodies.

"Your uncle…"

"Is in another room reading the magazine," he whispered against her ear, "Why does this feel like back in high school?"

"I don't want to hear about that," she said, "Your exploits were legendary."

"Somewhat exaggerated…"

"I'll bet."

He moved where he could hold her close to him and look at her face.

"This couch's not very big," she said, "What if it tips over?"

He kissed her below her jaw, and that tickled.

"It's stronger than it looks…"

She arched a brow at him.

"How would you know?"

That would require too much explanation, he decided quickly, when the last thing he wanted to do was to keep talking about the past that was gone and buried, rather than focus on the women who shared the couch with him.

"Well, it's not far to the bedroom," he said, "and with the weather not being great…"

She sat up then, and her eyes had changed. What had just happened?

"C.J….what's going on here?"

She sighed and pulled away.

"I was just thinking about the last time…"

"What last time," he said, then understanding hit him, "you mean the time in the barn when we…"

She nodded.

"Did something happen that bothered you," he said, "Did I hurt you? We never really talked about it."

She shrugged.

"There was nothing to talk about," she said, "Well maybe one thing."

He saw the emotions whirling in her eyes, different ones competing for attention from her.

"I should have told you this a long time ago."

Now he felt worried, told him what, he wondered.

"I wanted to, but you and Christina…I didn't know where you stood with each other."

He ran his hand through his hair.

"I wasn't with her when we made love," he said, "We were broken up."

"But you did get back together again," she said, "but by then, it was over anyway."

His eyebrows narrowed.

"Over…what was over…?"

She paused for a moment, watching him the entire time while he focused on her.

"Please tell me honey," he said, "You know you can tell me anything."

She didn't look at him for a moment and then when she did, she saw what looked like tears in her eyes.

"Now you really need to tell me," he said, "I promise whatever it is, I'll listen."

She nodded.

"I didn't regret what happened at all," she said, "It's not like that. It's just that we didn't use a condom."

He smiled.

"As I remember, neither of us had one…but you were on something."

"I know…but afterward, weeks afterward, I felt tired and kind of sick…just really strange."

His eyes widened as it dawned on him what she was getting at. Had she been…

"Sounds like you were pregnant…"

She shook her head.

"I wasn't…I never would have kept something from you and I'd never…"

She didn't need to finish that statement because he knew she spoke the truth in that if she had been pregnant, she would have told him and they would have worked it out together.

" I would do anything to our baby," she said.

He took her hand in his own.

"I know that…but something happened…"

She took a deep breath.

"It was a false alarm," she said, "Julia was here with me so I wasn't alone but although I meant to tell you, you'd gotten back with Christina and I didn't want that or me to come between you."

He understood that and he knew she had wanted to tell him for quite a while.

"I'm glad you told me," he said, "and I'm relieved that Julia helped you. I wish I could have been there with you."

She looked at her hands, including the one he still held in his own.

"I had mixed feelings about it actually…I know it's silly but I was both relieved and sad at the same time if that makes any sense."

He nodded and smiled at her.

"The next time you take a test and there will be a next time," he said, "We'll be doing it together okay?"

She smiled back at him.

"You better believe it cowboy."

Then she grew reflective again.

"I don't want it to be when I'm facing this," she said, "If we…created a life together and I had to go to prison…"

Now he knew what had made her afraid to be intimate with him or part of the reason.

"That's not going to happen," he said, "We're going to clear this all up, find the real killer and then we're going to head back home and spend the rest of our lives making up for all the time we've lost."

"I'll hold you to that promise," she said, "and I'll try not to be so scared but sometimes…"

He embraced her again, holding her close to him. She hadn't been alone in feeling the fear that she might lose someone she loved because the thought had haunted him too. But he had to be the strong one and reassure her when necessary.

"That's okay…I'm not in any rush," he said, "I just want you to know that I'm going to be here with you and it's going to work out."

She tried to feel that but it had been so damned hard.

"And that the times we have shared together have been the most precious moments of my life."

Tears threatened her again when she heard the conviction in his voice and realized he knew what she had been experiencing these past few days. He had his own life experience to draw on.

"I don't know how you ever coped when you were accused of murdering someone," she said, "What you must have been thinking."

He stroked her face.

"That I had this wonderful woman there with me, even willing to forgo getting help for a bullet wound to help me," he said.

He knew he would never forget the sacrifice she had nearly made for him to keep him free. When she had been dodging bullets with him inside that abandoned building and had told him that she had loved him, believing she would die with that unsaid.

"It took a while to even feel it," she insisted, "with everything going on around us."

It had been like that with her feelings for him too, but when she finally slowed down for them to catch her, they had deluged her in a rush of what couldn't even be described in words. The moment when she realized it had been like that for him had been among her life's most pivotal.

"Come here," he said, softly.

And so she did, and they held onto each other as the storm waged outside their sanctuary. Forgetting for a moment that out there a killer awaited.


	23. Chapter 23

Another update of this strange story, hope you enjoy it and thanks for the feedback!

* * *

She walked to work that morning, because she really didn't live that far away from the office. The sun had broken through a thin layer of clouds which had cloaked the valley but had started off softly saving most of its intensity until later that day.

Working for Jack this time hadn't been like when she had clerked for him before heading off to law school because for one thing, now that she had a law degree, she could do more even though she still had to pass the Texas State Bar exam. She had been studying hard for it, the nights that she spent at home after a long day at the office. The questions wouldn't be too tough for her because she had a quick mind for churning through the dry language of laws and statutes and memorizing them in rote fashion.

But the previous night she had begun to study and then had put her books and notes aside because she thought she had heard something outside the window. The breeze had whistled through the trees outside her building and she had grown used to that but somehow, she didn't think it had been the wind. Not the crackling of branches that seemed like they weren't from the trees but closer to the ground. Then the movement of what sounded like a living creature through the shrubbery, and a rap against the side of the house.

Now that couldn't have been the wind because they were talking about gale force winds here. Just a simple autumn breeze signaling that the long hot days of summer and their sweltering counterparts at night were mercifully coming to an end.

And of course when she realized it hadn't been the wind, her first thought had been of him.

Dylan.

She had grabbed a flashlight and had unlocked the backdoor near the kitchen to take a look outside into the darkness that surrounded her and her small beam of light. Maybe it had just been a small animal scrambling around and she peered out even further than her flashlight would illuminate to see if that had been the case. Then her heartbeat could drop to more normal levels and she could go back to studying.

And then she saw it, a white piece of paper tucked beneath her placemat. She reached down to pick it up and unfold it. Her eyes widened as she read it.

_Don't tell Nadine_

She frowned, don't tell Nadine, what? It's not like the two women hung out together after all. In fact they couldn't stand each other and that had always been the case since C.J. had first moved out to Wild Fork. Relations hadn't become friendlier with the years that passed but fortunately C.J. had spent most of those recent years away from this town.

But she knew the man that wrote it was Nadine's husband. The man who now worked as a reserve deputy and did favors for her boss. Between notes like these and the phone calls she had been getting telling her not to trust her boss, Jack, life was definitely taking on a strange and even menacing tone in Wild Fork these days.

The next morning, she had put the latest note in the back of her mind as she headed off to work because Jack had left her some briefs to revise that were needed in court by afternoon and he would send a courier to swing by his local office to pick them up.

So she had been walking down the tree-lined streets heading towards the main thoroughfare of town that housed the local prosecutor's office. She had stopped by to pick up a coffee and Danish from Dianne at the café. Her friend had asked her if she wanted to drop by for lunch and C.J. had told her she might if she could ever finish her briefs.

"Jack working you hard again," Dianne had asked with a smile.

C.J. had nodded, but she enjoyed what she did and she knew that in a couple weeks when she started working on trial motions for a couple homicide cases, it would start to pick up but also in a more stimulating way.

If not for these strange events going on, she would be looking forward to jump into those challenges with both feet.

Her phone rang and she braced herself for another strange caller, but she looked on the ID and saw a very familiar number.

"Hey Houston, what's up?"

"Not much, and hey yourself," he answered from somewhere.

"You sound like you're not at home," she guessed, "Traveling again?"

"Guilty as charged," he said, "I'm on my way to the airport to jet off to Vancouver again."

"You know you really should stop for five minutes," she scolded lightly, "instead of running around so much."

"Well if I had a certain recently graduated attorney working with me," he said, "It might cut down on my traveling."

"Houston…we already had this discussion."

She heard him sigh on the other end.

"I'm a very persistent man but then you already know that," he said.

Ah that she did indeed, but she had put her foot down that she wanted to remain in Wild Fork for at least a while longer while she sorted through her uncle's complicated estate including the possessions in storage that still needed to be auctioned off. But that was only reason why she had been avoiding Matt, turning down his offers to come work with him. Because she wondered if he wanted more than that, more than their friendship or a business relationship and she really didn't know what she wanted.

"So where's Christina?"

A pause met that question.

"She's…back East getting ready to launch that new perfume line," he said, "She's the main model on the ad campaign."

"That's very good for her," she said, "How are you taking it?"

"Our relationship has always been long-distance," he said, "beginning when we met up again in Afghanistan."

"Okay so maybe you can both take a short vacation from your busy professional lives when you return," C.J. said, "so you can catch up and get grounded again."

"C.J…are you giving me advice about my relationship with her?"

She furrowed her brow, because that's what she had been doing and he hadn't asked but she just felt she had to offer it for some reason.

"Houston…we've only got this one life and we have to do what we can do to live it without any regrets when we leave it."

A long pause followed then when he finally responded, his tone had changed.

"C.J. are you telling me everything…"

She sighed in response to what she knew might be coming.

"No, but then do you tell me everything about what you're doing," she said lightly.

"You would tell me if there were anything going on that I needed to know, wouldn't you?"

Now that irked her. _Needed to know_, oh brother but then he always had been a bit on the overprotective side. She definitely didn't want him dropping everything including his fledgling business to rush back to his hometown to help her over some strange notes and crank calls. So she didn't answer his question with anything but a question.

"What about you," she said, "You telling me everything about your life, your relationships, and your work?"

He paused and she knew she had him there. Because he hadn't been all that forthcoming about what he faced over a thousand miles away. After all, she had to hear from his father that he had been nearly knocked out in an altercation while he intervened in the mugging of a woman in downtown L.A.

She walked while listening to him explain why the situation was different with her than with him and she thought, oh brother. She had shot at a man who had attacked her not needing his or anyone's help and she didn't need his help now because of Dylan's annoying behavior.

"Houston, I'm almost at the office now," she said, "Anything else you want to say?"

"Just to ask you to come and work with me," he said, "but I know what your answer will be."

She chuckled.

"Goodbye Houston," she said, "Have a safe flight."

She clicked off her phone and continued walking to the front door of the building and she opened it, walking inside. Lorraine manned the desk today and handed her another stack of files without a word. The two of them had never really saw eye to eye with each other since C.J. had beaten her out in a debate competition their senior year in high school. Lorraine had believed she had the award sown up while C.J. had been away from school tending to some repair work with the other hands after a tornado had struck the ranch, leveling a barn and some fencing.

While hauling away the old pieces of siding and nailing up some new framework, C.J. had practiced her speech and Matt had been her audience. She must have repeated it to him a dozen times and he never complained. And when she told him she had nailed the championship, he had told her he never doubted that.

C.J. had moved on but Lorraine apparently had never forgotten it and now as Jack's head office manager, she never let her forget that she now supervised C.J.

"I've got six other briefs to finish first," C.J. told her, "But I should get to these after that."

Lorraine's mouth wore a straight line.

"Jack needs these done before those others," she said, "He's sending a courier to pick them up."

"This batch is also set for pickup," C.J. said, "so I'll try to get them all done by this afternoon."

And then she went back into her small office, not allowing Lorraine to ever believe she was getting to her by piling her with a ton of work every day. She just dug in and got it done and then handed it off to Lorraine with a smile, which didn't please Lorraine. But then, she wasn't working for Jack to rehash past history with his other employees who went to the same schools that she did.

She finished the briefs by lunch and then went down to the diner to eat lunch with Dianne who was on her break. They both sat in a booth and ordered sandwiches and iced tea.

"So Alexis isn't coming…"

Dianne shrugged.

"She's got more business and she wants to be a stylist," she said, "This is good for her."

C.J. knew there was more to it than that and she knew it had to do with Nadine, who had been fighting with her husband again and claiming that he had been cheating on her again. C.J. knew her name had been on the rumor mill, and that Alexis hadn't defended her against the rumors like Dianne had when they had started circulating.

"So how's work?"

C.J. sipped her iced tea.

"Busy…and Jack's hardly ever there," she said, "He's already working on his reelection campaign and going to a lot of meetings."

Dianne nodded.

"Yeah I've seen him when Danny invited us all to his birthday party at the Elks' club," she said, "Lot of power players there, even from Abilene."

C.J. had heard about those parties but hadn't paid much attention to them. But she did notice that Jack hung around the office sometimes late at night on the days he came into work there. And a couple of times, Dylan and another man had been standing outside the office in the lobby sitting and talking both in their reserve deputy uniforms when she had left to go home.

"Nadine's always complaining about how much time Dylan spends at those parties," Dianne said, "But she decided to marry him."

It had been an impulsive decision on Nadine's part, C.J. thought, because she hadn't seen a way out of this town and her only other ticket, Matt, had already left to go into the military. But C.J. hadn't really known when Nadine had suspected that Dylan had started cheating on her. C.J. seemed a natural target because she had been involved with Dylan but while she heard the whispers that Nadine had tried to generate about her, she didn't pay them much mind.

Until Dylan started bothering her even after she told him she wasn't interested.

"She thought she loved him maybe," C.J. said, "or that he could get her out of Wild Fork."

Dianne chuckled.

"She's still here, you're here, and I'm here,"she said, "At least you got out of here for a little while."

C.J. heard the hint in her friend's voice that she still didn't understand why she had stayed. She did know why she came back to bury her uncle and settle his estate but she should have just left and taken a job back in Boston, or even a larger city in Texas like Houston or Dallas.

But C.J. hadn't done any of that and she hadn't gone to California to work with Matt. She had wound up working with Jack and she felt that would suit her for a while.

"Jack pays well," she said, "and when I pass the bar, I'll do some cases at the county seat."

She couldn't wait until that date came when she would actually be fulfilling her dream of being a trial attorney. But her date with the bar exam still stood about three months off and in the meantime, reality dictated that she did a lot of the office's scuttle but work which was mostly doing legal research and writing endless legal briefs for the trial attorneys. She had worked on the law review journal at Harvard so she knew she had great writing skills. Jack had read a couple of her briefs when he'd been in and had praised her work.

"So what's on for tonight," she said, "Going to the Blue Cactus?"

That was a new club that had popped up in the past six months during the latest round of revitalization in Wild Fork. C.J. had wondered if it would attract a crowd to keep it afloat but to her surprise, it had become one of the most popular night spots in town.

"I got work to do," she said, "But maybe…"

"Oh come on C.J. all work and no play…"

C.J. laughed at the earnestness in her friend's voice and nodded.

"I'll check it out," she said, "There's a new act there tonight isn't there?"

Dianne shrugged.

"Who cares," she said, "As long as there's plenty of booze and men to dance with."

C.J. didn't really care about that. Her dating had pretty much gone by the wayside because she worked so hard and spent long hours at the office. That and knowing every guy in town kept her away from all the single joints. But a few hours of relaxation wouldn't hurt…

"I'll see you later," she said.

* * *

Matt relaxed in his brand new Lear Jet, which had been a necessary purchase since he did so much traveling to places further and further away as a part of expanding his new company across the globe. He had met up with much greater success than even his brightest projections had indicated and since Christina traveled a lot for her job…well it suited their long distance, high paced relationship just fine.

He had a pilot's license and could have flown the jet but he had decided to get some much needed work done on the flight up to Vancouver. The galley had been stocked and he had dined on gourmet pizza and some cold beer.

Taking a brief break away from his work, with several hours still left to fly before the plane touched down at its latest destination.

His mind wandered to C.J. back in Wild Fork and how hard he had tried to get her to come work with him. But she kept telling him in no uncertain terms that she would remain at her job in Wild Fork working with Jack to become a criminal prosecutor as she always wanted.

Murray, his new accountant stuck his head out of the galley.

"Hey you want some more of the pizza?"

Matt shook his head.

"No you can take the rest of it," he said, "I've filled myself up already and I'm just taking a few minutes until I reexamine the specs on that fiber optics company."

Murray brightened.

"It looks absolutely great," he said, "and we should pick it up for quite cheap."

"Murray, I'm going to buy it at a fair price," he said, "I'm not interested in taking advantage of someone great with communications technology and short on business sense."

Murray sighed in disappointment.

"You're lacking in that killer instinct Big Guy," he said, "I'm going to have my work cut out with you."

Matt smiled at the man he had plucked out of the graduating class of the Accounting program at one of the top universities and had done that because he knew that Murray could crunch numbers quickly and do an analysis like no one else and that's what he wanted for his new business venture.

"We're booked at the hotel in the middle of the business district," he said, "We'll be getting in earlier enough to check out the reception."

Murray's eye lit up.

"A great opportunity for networking," he said, "There's going to be some movers and shakers there."

"A good place to meet some ladies and have a good time…"

Murray shot him an approachful look.

"Matlock…I don't think."

Matt winked.

"Just kidding," he said, "I'll call Christina when I get in and let her know I made it safely."

"And what about C.J?"

Matt paused thoughtfully, thinking the situation with his best friend was more complicated these days than even that involving his on and off girlfriend.

"I'll call her too," was all he said.

* * *

C.J. dressed up a bit in a skirt and a blouse before meeting up with Dianne outside the Blue Cactus which had attracted quite a crowd on the warm evening, as a line formed out on the sidewalk.

She had worked like a dog all day and finished all the briefs to hand off to an incredulous Lorraine who just nodded and stacked them by the door to be picked up by the courier. C.J. left earlier than she usually did and headed on home to get ready.

"We'll stake out a spot when we get inside," Dianne said, "I wish Alexis had joined us."

They moved a few inches up the line.

"She said she had to help take care of her sister's kids," C.J. said, "and her mother's been sick."

They finally made it inside the door and saw that the place already looked packed, with music playing and a crowd near the bar, getting their first round of drinks.

"We'd better get some beer before they run out," C.J. said.

Dianne shook her head.

"I want a shot of whisky."

C.J. ordered a beer and Dianne got her shot and drank it down. They walked through the crowd, greeting people that both knew until they reached an empty table where they both sat down to watch the activity around them.

"Is Jake here," Dianne asked, "I don't see him."

C.J. hid a smile knowing that her friend had always had a soft spot for the mechanic who had purchased the repair shop owned by the man who had taught him everything he knew.

"Who you looking for," Dianne asked her.

C.J. shrugged.

"No one really," she said, "I don't have time to think about men. I'm working all the time."

"No one's that busy," Dianne pointed out, "That's just an excuse."

C.J. sipped her beer.

"I had a boyfriend, Carl but he's working in Japan right now for a company and we both decided…"

"You both would see other people," Dianne said, "but you need to take your own advice."

C.J. arched her brow.

"Here…in Wild Fork," she said, "There's no one that interests me."

Dianne sighed.

"Well if you're going to stay here, you might as well pick someone."

C.J. shook her head.

"I don't want anyone," she said, "Dylan's a creep only a married creep and I only slept with one other local guy."

Dianne looked intrigued.

"Really, who," she asked.

C.J. remained quiet, looking at her beer thoughtfully and Dianne widened her eyes.

"You don't mean…"

C.J. knew what name would be coming and why she'd be shocked to figure out that she had sex with her own best friend, although technically they hadn't been in town at the time but at the lake miles away. Suddenly Jake popped up and asked Dianne to dance and of course, Dianne dropped everything and joined him on the floor. C.J. watched knowing that most of the local men would stay away.

Unfortunately not all of them.

"C.J…want to dance?"

She looked up and saw Dylan.

"No I don't want to dance with you," she said, "Where's your wife?"

He downed a shot of whisky and slammed it on the table.

"I don't care where that whore is right now," he said, "Can we talk about something else?"

"Just go away," she said, "Go home to Nadine."

"You know she thinks we're doing more than just talking…"

She sighed.

"We're not even doing that," she said, "Get lost."

He tottered away from her when Zach saw him and called him over to where a group of guys stood drinking beers. And suddenly C.J. just wanted to go home, to be anywhere but inside the club. Dianne pulled Jake back with her to the table and C.J. looked up at them.

"You are leaving?"

Dianne shook her head.

"A couple more dances at least…what about you?"

C.J. looked across the club.

"I really should be going," she said, "I've got to get to the office early tomorrow."

Dianne rolled her eyes.

"All work and no play…maybe you should go."

C.J. picked up her things and started to head towards the hallway which led to the parking lot.

"Hey where are you going," a voice said in front of her.

She looked up and saw Dylan who started to approach her.

"Leaving already," he said, "Well so was I…we could leave together."

"I don't think so Dylan," she said, "I don't think your wife would like that much."

He stepped closer to her, and the smell of liquor overwhelmed her.

"I don't care what Nadine thinks," he said, "She's screwing around on me anyway."

C.J. didn't doubt that but that didn't concern her because she was going home. She tried to walk past him and he grabbed her arm.

"Don't walk out…"

She pulled her arm away and he pushed her against the wall, his body pressing against hers. She tried to push him off and he just stroked the hair off of her face.

"Now this is nice…more of this and less of you ignoring me…"

"Get off of me," she said, "I'll ask you nicely once."

He chuckled as his hand moved from her face to her shoulder where he nudged one of her shirt sleeves down her arm.

"You're prettier than Nadine," he said, "Always have been."

When he tried to slip his hand in her blouse, she kneed him and when he exclaimed in pain, she pushed him off of her.

"Like I said, only nice once…"

His face twisted in rage.

"Why you…"

Then they heard another voice.

"Why you tramp, you stay away from my husband," Nadine said, glaring at C.J.

C.J. met her gaze directly.

"Gladly if he keeps his hands off of me," she said, "If he doesn't, he'll be sorry."

She moved away from Nadine who grabbed her arm.

"Don't you walk away from me," she said, "After I caught you with him?"

C.J. pulled away her arm easily from the former beauty queen.

"I'm getting out of here," she said, "Feel free to take Dylan back on home."

She walked away from both of them, ignoring the insults that came flying out of Nadine's mouth egging her to stay and play that game but C.J. had better things to do like go home. All she wanted to do was to get out of these clothes and forget that Dylan had touched her.

She just shook her head and walked out of the bar to her car, making sure neither of them followed her and then her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw Matt's number again.

"What you doing calling so late," she said, "You should be out having a good time. Christina won't mind if you have some fun."

"I'm just checking to make sure you're okay," he said, "and to tell you I made it safely to Vancouver."

She sighed thoughtfully.

"Well thanks, but everything's fine here," she said, "Same as always."

Now Matt listening to her knew those words were loaded with baggage but her voice appeared fine. But a part of him still wondered.

"I'm getting in my car and heading on home," she said, "I need to get some sleep before work tomorrow. I'm doing briefs for a big trial."

"Sounds exciting," he said, "I know you've been working very hard."

"Houston…I love what I do," she said, "It's not always easy being back here but I'm where I belong."

"You belong where you're happy C.J. and if Wild Fork is that place then I want you to be there," he said, "But what I really want is for you to move to L.A. and work for me."

She chuckled at that and they talked a little bit and then hung up. As she got into her car, she didn't notice that someone else had done the same and watched her leave the parking lot, before following behind her.


	24. Chapter 24

Here's an update of this older story, thanks for reading it and thanks for the feedback!

* * *

She woke up with a start drenched in sweat, her heart beating rapidly in her chest but when she opened her eyes, she just saw meadow and trees, and felt a hot breeze pass across her face.

And she knew she hadn't been alone when he reached for her.

"C.J…what's going on?"

Her vision sharpened and she saw Matt's worried face looking down at her. She sat up slowly and looked around her, the two of them sitting on a blanket underneath a tree with wide leafy branches.

"We're…"

"We were having some lunch and you must have nodded off," he said, "The day's really hot so it's not a bad time for it."

She covered her face with her hands.

"God for a moment there…"

He heard the fear in her voice, mixed with confusion and relief. He wondered where she had just been, what part of her past because he knew she hid parts of it from him. Frustrating, given that he was trying to help her get murder charges dropped and any one of those pieces she hid, could be the one that pointed away from her and towards who really killed Dylan. He rubbed her back, soothingly and her breathing became more even.

"What were you dreaming about that made you wake up like that?"

She looked away from him out towards another grove of trees.

"It's nothing…"

He sighed, looking directly into her eyes.

"It's not nothing C.J.," he said, "It's this cloud that you've got hanging over you and I know that Dylan's a part of it."

"You don't know anything," she said, "Really it's just the stress of being under indictment that's all."

Matt ran his hand through his hair in frustration but the expression in her eyes told him not to push hit. He knew that she hadn't killed Dylan but he also knew that she hadn't told him the whole story of what had happened between the two of them.

"And it's being back here," she said, "When I walked away last time I thought it was for good."

He stroked the hair off of her face.

"So did I…but we're back now but only until we get this sorted out," he said, "until we found out who really killed Dylan."

She sighed.

"Not exactly a short list Houston and I was on it," she said, "I told him I wanted him dead."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Why…can't you tell me that much," he asked.

She looked at him and saw that he really wanted to know but she just couldn't get the words out the way she wanted. Something inside her kept them hidden, she knew if she tried to say them she would stumble.

"I don't think it will change anything," she said, "Dylan's dead and I didn't do it but I'm not really sure I'm upset it about it either."

"No one seems really upset about it," Matt noted, "Certainly not his own wife."

She shrugged.

"He wasn't really someone you missed Houston," she said, "He wasn't very well liked. He got tossed out of the Wrangler's more than once for fighting."

Like the nights he had followed her as she had walked home from Jack's office home. Nadine had come to her complaining more than once and others too that Dylan wouldn't be out too late and too slow coming back home if it weren't for them. She just had this belief running through her head that every young woman in town that wasn't attached had been after her husband. Sure, a couple here and there maybe but the majority of the town's female population didn't really like him much. Some brave souls would try to explain to Nadine why but she never listened. She blamed the messenger not her husband for his own behavior.

Even now that he had been discovered dead, reduced to mere bones and not much flesh in between him and his regular clothes, Nadine still pointed the finger at everyone else for luring her husband away from where he had belonged. When even she had to know that no one, certainly no woman, told Dylan what to do, and C.J. knew that Nadine had the bruises and cuts to show for it.

But when it came to the injuries that Dylan had inflicted on her, Nadine's memory ran pretty short. Much shorter than her own as it turned out.

"Yeah, I bet most of the women in town have stories about him," Matt said, "Maybe even some police reports."

C.J. thought about it and then shook her head slowly.

"I don't think so Houston," she said, "You have to remember he was a reserve deputy part-time and that gave him protection from being investigated himself for any crimes. It's an unspoken rule under the sheriff in place back then and that clearly hasn't changed since."

Matt sighed.

"Maybe not…but maybe we'd better check," he said, "Didn't you file something against him?"

C.J. rubbed her forehead.

"I…it's nothing," she said, "They ignored it anyway."

It didn't look like it was nothing judging by the quick expression that passed through her face before she tried to look unaffected, but he had known her for an awfully long time, too long not to see when she was hiding something.

"C.J. why don't you just tell me about it," he asked softly, "You know you can tell me anything. You do trust me."

She nodded, because sure she did, she trusted him with her own life. She trusted him more than she did anyone else but about this…it was ancient history anyway and talking about it wouldn't accomplish anything, it wouldn't change the past and it certainly wouldn't clear her of murder charges.

"There's nothing really to say Houston," she said, "What's past is past after all."

She sensed the frustration within him at her words.

"What's in the past might have to do with Dylan's murder."

She just looked at him, without blinking.

"Precisely," she said, "Which is why it might be better not to talk about it."

She stood up and brushed off her jeans and Matt joined her and they stood beneath the tree, somewhat at a loss of what to say because they had reached an impasse, one that he desperately wanted to bridge but without her help, not possible.

At least not right now…not that Matt had ever been a man to give up on something that really mattered and nothing did more than the woman in front of him.

"But is Nadine blaming me for her husband's murder because she's trying to deflect suspicion off herself or because she doesn't know who did it?"

Matt considered both possibilities and honestly, one didn't seem any more probable than the other. So much about the situation remained a mystery of him not the least of which was the history of Wild Fork at least the corner of it impacted by Dylan's life and his untimely death.

"I don't know C.J. but I'm not sure we're going to find out from her," he said, as they put away the blanket in Matt's saddlebag. They both got back on their horses that they had left tied to a tree to graze and took off back across the meadow to Roy's ranch.

C.J. had always enjoyed riding around the vast expanse owned by Roy that would be passed on to his son, Will. She had found peace in the midst of great turmoil during times in her life simply by riding, alone or with the man next to her. The one whose path had been interwoven along with hers even when they had drifted apart, through his relationship with Christina or other women or his stint in the military where they all thought they had lost Will and during the thankfully few emotional rifts between them.

Like when…but she focused ahead on the line of trees that would tell them they were approaching the main barn. Where no doubt Bo and Lamar would be carrying out the same chores they had on Bill's ranch across the valley, Matt's own flirtation with ranching in the Santa Monica Mountains and now Roy's newly discovered spread where they stayed now.

* * *

They approached the barn and saw Lamar in the paddock lunging a palomino yearling while Bo sat on the fence and yelled suggestions at him. A trip down memory lane for both Matt and C.J, as was the barn where they had spent a lot of their time including one very special interlude…to her anyway. To Matt, an intermission between two separate episodes of his tumultuous relationship with Christina, but for her much different, it had reignited a part of her she thought had died inside her. Not that she had ever told him that.

Matt led his horse in the barn and C.J. followed and they both stood them side by side to unsaddle them and put them back in their stalls.

"It's amazing how great this barn still looks after all these years," she said, "Still sturdy and strong."

Matt stroked his jaw.

"Yeah my uncle had it built before I was even born," he said, "Had his first horses here even though he was busy with you know…his other life most of the time so my Aunt Flo and Will hired some hands to fill in during his absences."

But when Roy had come home, tightlipped and sometimes troubled from his assignments, he had allowed the ranching lifestyle to engulf him again, spending hours from sunrise to sunset working the horses and the land that nurtured them. In the past few days, Matt had seen that side of his uncle again and wondered how easy it would be for him to return to L.A. Especially when Will arrived with his new family to settle in the ranch house, no doubt finding the tranquility of the valley important in his own continuing healing from his years spent as a POW.

"I really enjoyed spending hours in here with the horses, or just sitting on the hay bales and reading law books, to keep myself up to date even when I quit."

They put their horses away and then stood there looking at them. He slipped his arm around her waist and drew her close.

"I remember something else…a very special night we spent together…"

She looked at him, placing her hand on his chest.

"It meant that much to you, really?"

He nodded.

"It meant everything…though I didn't know it at the time and I'm sorry about that," he said, "especially considering we almost created a life together."

She felt warmth in her face.

"Well Houston…you were torn up over what was going on with Christina…you two were drifting apart and I know you didn't want that so I didn't push you to change that because we…"

He cupped her chin in his hand.

"Because we acted on our feelings," he said, "You know we were both dancing around them for a long time…and I wasn't honest to Christina about that."

C.J. enjoyed the feel of his touch as she always did and when he drew her closer for a kiss, she sure as hell wasn't going to complain about it. When they separated, Matt shot her a slow smile.

"Yeah…this barn's sure a great place for many things…"

She just shook her head at him as they continued onto the house. Roy sat on the back veranda reading a book and looked up at him.

"How was your ride?"

Matt looked at C.J.

"We saw those beautiful new trees that grew from those saplings we planted some years ago," he said, "and they provide great shade on these hot days."

Roy nodded.

"Oh C.J. your lawyer, Rusty, called you," he said, "He wants to meet with you tomorrow morning when he's in town, something about having problems getting discovery…he wants to file a motion."

C.J. snorted.

"Not sure that's going to help loosen the grip on the evidence they claim they gathered against me but I admire his work ethic."

Matt rubbed her back.

"C.J…"

"No Houston…this small town hasn't changed a bit and if there's anything that clears me, it's going to take more than a dozen motions to shake it loose and I know that evidence is out there because I didn't kill Dylan."

"I know you didn't…and we'll find that proof that you didn't."

She sighed, taking his hand and drawing him to sit on the chaise with her.

"Houston…why is it that this is how it works in a system that's founded on the principle of innocence until proven guilt?"

"I don't know C.J. but we're going to turn this system around to get you out of this mess," he said, "and then we're going back to L.A."

God, she couldn't wait until that day came but the problem was, she couldn't see it. She tried to share his faith, but at night, when the world that held her attention during the day receded at night leaving her alone with her fears.

The fear that she would be convicted and sentenced to prison for a crime she didn't commit. That she would be separated forever from the man she had waited most of her life to love. The one she wanted to give so much too, yet if it remained to be taken away, she would keep all that to herself so she wouldn't hurt anyone. So she wouldn't be badly hurt herself.

That's why she remained silent about bits and pieces of the time period that she and Matt had lived thousands of miles apart. And to protect him from the truth.


	25. Chapter 25

C.J. had been so busy what with working overtime in the office with Jack and then taking more work back home with her that she paid little attention to what was going on around her.

And when she walked in the darkness surrounded by quiet neighborhoods, she didn't pay much attention to what happened around her because she had such a hard time turning her mind off from her work. Often it took an hour and a few cups of sweetened chamomile tea before she would even relax enough to head to bed.

She had gotten several emails from Matt though she didn't know where they came from because once again, his assignment had been top secret though he mentioned running into some girl he'd been serious with in college, Christina and that they'd been spending a lot of spare time together.

C.J. mostly remembered how pretty the coed had been, with dark brown hair and a lean body afforded to her by genetics and toned by playing tennis if she remembered. Seriously, she had never gotten what had attracted the two of them to each other because they couldn't be more of a study in contrasts. But based on his emails, it seemed to be getting serious again between the two of them.

In contrast, she had no romantic relationships of any type going on in her busy life. She'd had drinks with a couple locals at the club but nothing much had sparked with them. The truth was she was too focused on her career and too exhausted from the workload to do much socializing.

Besides with Nadine's constant accusations that she had rekindled her romance with Dylan, she didn't have much energy to even defend herself. Really, there had been nothing between her and Dylan since he dumped her not long after taking her virginity. But for some reason, he seemed intent on trying to prove to Nadine that she had the hots for him, when she found him creepier now than anything else.

Then there had been the strange hang up phone calls and creepy notes without much written on them. Just some crazy lyrics she almost remembered from somewhere but couldn't quite place. Julia had teased her over the phone from miles away about it being some kind of secret admirer but C.J. said she didn't like that kind of attention. In one of the envelopes had been a picture of a woman wearing a sheer black negligee whose head had been cut off.

She thought about calling the sheriff but decided against it. No one would take it seriously calling it the work of a prankster. They'd tell her it was probably someone she knew who decided that negative attention from her was better than none at all and that she should just ignore it.

But she couldn't, not even in her dreams. For so long, her dreams had been packed full of the details of her work life, the different cases, the different characters who came and went at the office. But now, it was filled with strange lyrics and looming shadows, whose faces she would look for but never quite see.

She'd changed the locks on the door twice when she walked in her house and felt as though she were being watched, or someone had just stood where she did now looking around her bedroom.

Trying not to think about it, not to worry worked great during her busy days packed with projects and work assignments, not as well when she sat on the couch working on case files or lay in bed at night while shadows caused by passing cars danced on the walls. On nights like this, she thought about Matt and how much she missed him, god her relationship with him had always been so complicated. They'd been friends forever even during times when life pulled them in separate directions but the week that they'd gone further than that and become lovers had altered that relationship though they didn't admit it.

His cousin Will had found out about it at some point and teased him though he'd never do it in C.J.'s presence because his cousin had been genuinely fond of her. And it had been the same with her and Julia. Her friend all through law school had hinted that she and Matt should be more than just close friends but C.J. told her they had unwritten rules in their relationship and weren't about to change them.

She heard noises on the roof sometimes as she lay underneath the covers but figured them to be squirrels or raccoons scurrying around. But at night everything took upon a life it didn't have during the daylight hours.

Earlier, she had pulled out a stack of mail, including a postcard from Robert Tyler who had been camping in the Amazon river basin and a longer more detailed letter from her ex, Carl who had just started a new job at a business in San Francisco. She missed the latter much more than she did the former who she hadn't really warmed to as much as Matt did. Between the two of them, they got into more exploits that they often found their friendship sorely tested.

Carl on the other hand had been quieter, much less flamboyant but talk about still waters running deep when it came to being passionate about many things including one woman inside the bedroom. They still remained close even when he moved to London before heading back to California

After putting aside his letter, she had went to steep some more tea to help her sleep. She had answered Matt's earlier email with something light and friendly because she didn't want to worry him while he likely had been assigned to some combat zone in either Afghanistan or Iraq. There had been so much more she harbored inside of her that she wanted to say to him, that she needed to say but she decided to wait until he returned back to Wild Fork after his latest tour of duty.

She heard a rapping sound against the side of the house while in the kitchen and it took her a moment to figure out that it was an old branch from the tree on the side of the house.

Rather than a prowler, she reminded herself again, feeling so on edge these days but with Nadine on a constant tear telling C.J. to stay away from her husband. Not to mention the creepy missives showing up and the hang up phone calls, she could hardly blame herself. If Matt were here, he'd insist she report everything to the sheriff but he wasn't so she had to handle it the way she knew best which was to keep it to herself.

But unbeknownst to herself, outside someone watched and waited.

* * *

Matt rolled over in bed and Christina who lay next to him wrapped in a sheet began to stir. Just as well because she had an early makeup call for a fashion shoot she had to do in Bagdad of all places.

The modeling jobs were coming in fast and furious and _Cosmo_ and other magazines just kept calling and calling for cover shots and fashion spreads. If she could just sew up a few product endorsements she'd be set and then she could branch out perhaps into acting in movies or television.

Matt felt like he couldn't keep up with all of her energy and drive towards her career. He had been busy enough securing some connections so that when he was released from his military obligation he could start his own company apart from his father's empire. That had been his goal since he'd been a young kid even though his father hadn't really liked it.

But Matt knew enough that he had to make his own way in the world.

His military career had some harrowing moments spent dodging mortar fire and land mines but the training he received in intelligence gathering and analysis would prove invaluable later on.

And Christina had flown in on a jet on her way to Moscow for a fashion shoot to stay overnight with him. The Bagdad job had been sponsored by a charity organization to increase land mine awareness that she had agreed to do. By the time she finished with that, Matt would be too buried in work to see her plane off at the airstrip.

In not too many months, he'd be heading back to the States to begin his new life. He still wished C.J. hadn't proven to be so stubborn when it came to working with him as his partner. No, she had decided to pursue criminal law, she'd told him and had been working for Jack back in Wild Fork. After his discharge, he'd go back there to persuade her in person again to change his mind and move to California with him and maybe even Christina.

She had always been a bit high maintenance but he had been drawn to her classic beauty and her ease at any social gathering. They had met up at Rice University and had been an item before their disparate ambitions had split them up until just recently. Now it appeared that life had been handing out second chances.

But though he should be focusing on his reunion with his college girlfriend, he found his mind focused on C.J.

He really wanted, no he needed her to work alongside him with his new company, and her legal degree would prove to be a plus but she kept telling him nicely of course that she'd made her own decision.

Christina woke up and just looked at him, as if trying to decide whether or not to get up and hit the modeling job. Matt had a conference meeting at 01000 so he got up and hit the shower across the building. The conditions were not ideal and Matt had told Christina she could stay in the VIP section but she had wanted to remain with him so they could make the most of their time together.

And as they did, Matt thought that she could become a part of his life once his service ended. That they could give their relationship a second chance and maybe get it right this time.

But in the back of his mind, he thought of someone else.


	26. Chapter 26

Resurrected this story which is somewhat off the beaten path taking place in different timelines. Don't know if anyone's reading it but I thought it'd be fun to update it! Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

She woke up screaming because she thought she'd still been back there, in the past inside another house in Texas. When she woke up drenched in a deep sweat, she realized that she was back in that town but years had passed.

Oh yeah, she had been dragged back here on charges related to a murder that took place just over a decade ago. She expected to see him in the room with her, she'd just been fighting with him trying to get away from him…then she woke up raising her body up against the darkness, everything still around her. Then she felt something move next to her and saw Matt open his eyes and sit up too. She'd fallen asleep nestled against his body, wrapped up in his arms. Feeling so secure, so safe and so loved by the man who'd been the mainstay in her life…Every other person who'd been there had died or left her except for him and his family. His father had given her the guidance she lacked from her uncle and she'd grown especially close to Roy even after he'd become estranged with his brother.

"What is it?"

Matt's voice betrayed urgency under the sleepiness. They'd both been up so late talking about her case and whether or not Nadine had been honest with them. C.J. knew otherwise based on her past with the woman but Matt wanted to investigate a lead or two that came from his ex-girlfriend.

She just sighed, her heart racing in her chest and her night shirt clinging to her. He swept her in his embrace without her needing to ask and held her tightly against him.

"God…it must have been some nightmare huh?"

He knew that because he'd been there so many times himself. Back when he'd been suffering PTSD and guilt after the loss of his cousin in a war zone…which had merely triggered the repressed memories of his childhood kidnapping. He had told her if he hadn't gotten counseling, he'd been lost forever. It had taken him a couple benders to decide he wanted to save himself. Of course C.J. had read him the riot act more than once saying she didn't want to bury his ass in a grave next to the memorial for his cousin.

Will of course turned out to be alive though he'd left them to deal with some business with the Department of Veteran Affairs that had hired him to do a research study. Both Matt and C.J. knew that this was a pivotal piece of getting his life back after surrendering nearly a decade of it to a ruthless warlord in Afghanistan.

C.J. burrowed her head against him and that's when he knew that she'd really been terrified in her sleep, so much so it had jarred her awake. Only a part of her had still been there until he took her in his arms and soothed her with words he didn't remember. She'd done it for him enough when she hadn't been kicking his ass to get him to reclaim his own life.

"I don't know Houston…I was back..God…he had come into my house…"

"Who came in your house?"

But she fell silent on that part and he knew she didn't want him to know. He had his own ideas but he didn't want to push her on that. It had everything to do with Dylan and maybe…even Jack. He remembered that when they'd gone on their road trip, she'd done it to get away from her boss Jack. She'd gone back and quit her job and they hadn't parted on good terms…maybe that's why his office came after her so vigorously now on flimsy evidence…a few rounds of here say, accusations levied by another prime suspect and her necklace that had turned up with Dylan's body in his makeshift grave.

"C.J….?"

She just rested her body against him as he laid them back on the bed together. She relaxed somewhat and her breathing became quieter.

"Houston…it's nothing…really."

"Nothing…C.J. you just had a nightmare and I know what that's like."

She sighed and he knew she remembered those times too.

"But this is different…it's just the case that's all…being charged with murder."

He paused for a long moment.

"Are you sure it's not Dylan?"

She moved against his chest.

"He's dead Houston…he can't hurt anyone anymore."

His body tensed…he didn't like her word choice at all. Who had Dylan hurt? Oh he had a pretty good idea it had been C.J. but if she wouldn't open up to him, how could he help her?

"Someone killed him and I know it wasn't you… but that person's still out there…"

She leaned up to look at him in the face.

"He's no major loss…whoever did it…they prevented more pain Houston…"

"For you…?"

"No, not just me…Nadine…"

He knew she was starting to feel sleepy again and her defenses were lowered enough so that she did talk to him.

"What about her?"

She sighed against him again.

"He…he's an angry man Houston…quick to act…"

Matt thought quickly.

"You mean he hurt her?"

She didn't respond right away and he thought she might have fallen asleep again.

"He…the hospital..There are records…"

Meaning that at some point Nadine must have gone to the hospital after her husband beat her up.

"I tried…"

"Tried what C.J…?"

"Tried to….but…"

She didn't say anything after that when he waited for her to finish and when he felt her body go limp against him fully trusting him to keep her safe…from what? He'd have to figure out how to find out even if she didn't tell him.

He'd have to go check on the information she'd just given him.

* * *

Matt lay awake for a long time after that. He remembered back to the time she'd been even more closed off than she'd been right now. He'd been on and off with Christina as they were growing further and further apart and he'd been to town to drop on his Uncle Roy mostly because he felt responsible for what happened to Will. His Aunt Flo had been hospitalized due to exhaustion, which came from keeping a lot of grief inside her until it broke out of her like a dam failing to hold back water. Roy had still worked for the mysterious entity that sent him out on missions but he'd spent more and more time on the ranch as he grew older. Memories of Will back to childhood had tied him to Texas and back then, there'd been no hope he'd ever see his son again.

Matt had tried to fill in the huge void that Will's death had caused but the times he'd come back when C.J. had been staying with Roy, she just was like some other person…except for the time in the barn when she'd opened up herself in ways to him that she hadn't in years…but something lay behind it that he didn't understand. He'd been a man who's wanted the woman in front of him more than he could ever admit and when she'd offered herself to him…he'd taken and the experience had etched itself so deeply in his heart that he'd carried it with him always.

It had driven a wedge between him and Christina and probably led to their final breakup in ways he didn't understand back then. Even afterward up to his latest fiancée Elizabeth, C.J. had somehow become the benchmark which he compared all his women too…and of course they fell short.

But something haunted her now that had reemerged when she returned to Texas years later and he didn't understand it. He just knew that she needed him even beyond helping to clear her of the murder charges.

He had to find a way to help her and if that meant uncovering her secrets, he would do that.

* * *

Morning broke over the valley and Roy's ranch and when C.J. woke up, she gazed down on Matt who lay asleep next to her. She felt refreshed though she remembered somewhat waking up suddenly last night and him holding her close to his body. But what it had been about…she didn't remember. She climbed out of bed careful not to stir him.

She showered and changed into some jeans and a chambray shirt knowing she had to meet with Rusty over that ridiculous discovery motion to be filed against the DA. Jack was being such an ass withholding information but she knew that Rusty would find a way to hammer him for it in front of the judge. So far the judge had seemed to give Jack's office a huge benefit of the doubt but that would just have to stop when Rusty and she made it clear that he was willfully defying the discovery request. So far there was no status on any DNA test results.

If any showed up on him that wasn't his, it wouldn't be hers either. Would it be Nadine's? Would it be Jack's or one of his henchmen? She had no idea at this point but it could prove pivotal in her case. Until the results came back, she had to work hard to find a way to get the charges dropped…while not having to delve too deeply in her past.

There were things she didn't want to…couldn't share with anyone…she just felt that what would happen wasn't worth it. So far she'd managed to keep Matt at bay but she knew he'd press harder if only to help secure her freedom and because he knew her better than anyone…that something ate away deep inside of her. In a place she'd allowed so few people to ever see.

She heard footsteps and knew that he'd woken up and that he'd remember last night even if she didn't…what would he say to her and how would she respond?

Another day as a murder suspect had begun.


	27. Chapter 27

**Earlier…**

Christina just looked at Matt as they stood on opposite sides of the room. Her arms were folded.

"I can't believe it," she said, "I can't believe you slept with her."

He sighed, knowing she wouldn't like it when he told her. He hadn't meant to hurt her but he couldn't keep secrets like that from her. It had been that one time in the barn when the two of them just couldn't fight it any longer. He's been separated from Christina and C.J. hadn't been seeing anyone. It had been one of the most intense experiences of his life but he kept that to himself. He just hadn't expected to get back together with Christina not long after that. But they had fallen back into their relationship and the guilt had been nagging at him for several months now.

So he came clean with her and decided to let the chips fall where they may. She'd just looked at him as if she were in shock and it made him feel even guiltier. He'd never cheated on a girlfriend before and even though technically they'd been broken up

"Christina…"

She pointed her finger at him.

"Don't you dare…I can't believe you…I thought you were different than the rest of them."

He just stared at her knowing that she'd put him in the dog house. But he couldn't feel guilty about what he'd shared with C.J. that night and what did that say about him?

"I should have known…I had my suspicions that you felt more for her and I knew she wanted you…but you kept telling me you're just friends."

"We're friends…what happened…"

He couldn't finish because he didn't want to betray C.J. by sharing details about the intimacies they'd shared especially how it had made him feel. He still felt it…even though some months had passed and he was in L.A. and she still on Roy's ranch back in Texas.

"Why'd you do it Rooster," she said, "Why'd you do that to me?"

His heart sunk when she used that term of endearment on him now.

"It happened…and that's all I'm going to say about it," he said, "I…I'm thinking that we got back together too quickly…"

"What? There's not much to say about it. We fought over something; we broke up for a while and got back together like we've done before…that's all."

He pursed his lips, her words hitting him but not enough to change what he knew was true.

"Ever wondered why we couldn't stay together…why we always broke up Christina," he said, "It's because we're two very different people…we don't have much in common and we don't spend much time together."

"So you're blaming this on my career," she said, "I'm a model who gets jobs. I travel. There's still time for a relationship isn't there? If it matters…"

He paused.

"I travel too…"

She shot him a knowing look.

"Yeah back to Texas…to see her."

"I went back to help my uncle," he said, "And I'm worried about my best friend…something's wrong with her, something happened and I don't know what."

"Maybe it's just that she changed Matt," she said, "It happens or maybe you just didn't know her as well as you thought."

Matt knew it wasn't either of those things. But he didn't want to get into it with her. He had to try to explain his relationship to C.J. so many times…until he realized it wasn't anyone's business.

"I thought I knew you…and then you pull this stunt," Christiana said, "I have to catch a plane to Paris but when I come back from the show, I'll be here for my things."

Just like that, Christina had decided to leave him again. But the news didn't devastate him, in fact he felt relieved even though he deeply cared about her. They just couldn't keep going down this road again.

"Okay, if that's what you want," he said, "I think that's probably best."

Then she looked at him incredulously.

"You mean you're going to give up what we had just like that? You're not going to fight for us?"

"Christina, you just said…"

She threw up her arms.

"Fine…I knew it…you're going to dump me and go back to her," she said, "You two deserve each other."

She looked at him and then went back to the bedroom to pack for Paris slamming the door behind her. Matt looked at the door and realized that he needed to get away, go do some sparring with some friends in the boxing ring at the gym. He had his gear there in his locker so he just grabbed his car keys and headed out of the house.

He knew when he returned, she'd be gone again. His mind left that thought and turned to C.J. He still had no idea what was going on with her. Whatever it was, she stubbornly refused to tell him not letting him in to know the truth.

* * *

C.J. looked over at Julia who had come to visit her after another chemo treatment. She looked much better but remission still remained a goal out of reach. Life didn't seem fair if such a great woman with such a promising future in law had been struck down by a brutal disease. But Julia never lost her sense of hope nor her sense of humor. She still needled C.J. about what had happened with her and Matt.

"You talked to him lately?"

C.J. just looked at her iced tea. They were sitting in the parlor of Roy's ranch house. He had gone to visit his son's empty grave.

"No…he's back with Christina and that keeps him very busy…what with his new business he's trying to start."

"You need to talk to him," Julia said, "You need to tell him about what almost happened."

C.J. sighed, putting down her glass.

"I didn't get pregnant from what happened with us so there's nothing to say…if I had, I'd had told him but the tests were negative."

Julia just smiled clearly knowing there was more to it than that.

"Okay so why not just touch base with him?"

"He asks too many questions Julia," she said, "and I don't want to talk about it."

"About work," Julia said, "You quit that job didn't you?"

C.J. nodded.

"He hated me working at that club," she said, "But I needed the money when I quit working for Jack."

Julia sipped her tea.

"You're doing fine aren't you?"

"Roy has me training and working his horses," she said, "It keeps me busy and I enjoy staying with him. Flo's been gone and he's been lonely."

"So what's going on then C.J.? What does he want to know?"

C.J. paused a long moment.

"About things…things that don't really matter," she said, "He wanted to know why I quit with Jack."

"Why did you?"

She'd expected that question but still didn't know how to answer it except to say she had her reasons.

"It wasn't working," she said, "Maybe I just don't want to go into criminal law."

Julia frowned.

"Yeah but I never seen you quit anything," she said, "Not as long as I known you."

"This is different…it's just a job, an internship really…you know I worked for him some time ago."

C.J. didn't want to get into all the history of both times she'd worked in Jack's office. She'd put that all behind her and focused on the horses except…she struggled to forget.

"Jack's a strange character," Julia noted, "My parents…my family backed one of his campaigns but they stopped…I don't know why. My father said that Jack had acquired new friends…drifted apart from his father."

"I don't know about that," C.J. said, "but I do know he had some people hanging by the office…and some of them worked for him off the books."

Julia digested that.

"Sounds about right…he had some enforcers didn't he," she said, "A couple of guys who maybe were used to do jobs that he didn't want to dirty his hands."

Julia was hitting too close to the mark for C.J.'s comfort. Probing into that part of the town's politics wouldn't do any good.

"I ran into Nadine today," Julia said, "Same as ever…complaining at the general store about her husband taking off on her."

Dylan…a man C.J. definitely didn't want to talk about. Her hands shook a little as she sipped her tea.

"He's always taking off," she said, "There's not more to it than that."

Julia thought about it and nodded.

"I suppose so…but she might be going to the sheriff's and fill out a missing person's report this time."

C.J. sighed.

"She did that last time and he showed up less than a week later with flowers she said, asking for forgiveness."

Julia rubbed the back of her neck.

"I'm not sure about this time," she said, "I have a bad feeling…"

C.J. didn't want this conversation to continue so she got up to refill her glass of iced tea while Julia watched her go.


	28. Chapter 28

Matt and C.J. sat across from Rusty at the diner after he'd given the update on the DNA test.

"It's not back yet," Matt said, "What's taking them so long to run it and then read the results?"

"They have to crosscheck them and then write them up in a report," Rusty said, "There's no proof that Jack's office is sitting on it."

Matt didn't look convinced.

"I think that's exactly what he's doing," he said, "Hell maybe he knows the results already. I know what that test is going to do. It's going to exonerate C.J."

She just watched the two men argue over the test that held her future in its results. She'd know that once Jack found a piece of evidence that was exculpatory he'd be required by the judge to give it to the defense and there'd be no way for him to hide a DNA test. But she knew he'd delay as long as possible while he mounded up other evidence to use against her at trial.

The trial could be months or even a year away and she'd be stuck here the whole time unable to leave the jurisdiction. She'd left this part of the country leaving behind her childhood and never thought she'd returned. She finally agreed to take Matt's offer to help him build his company in L.A. They'd be working side by side as equal partners from the ground up. He'd gotten some of the foundation laid out already but there was still so much to do and he needed her with him.

She'd finally joined him, got herself a place near the ranch that he bought from a well known movie star and she'd never regretted it. She'd never had a friend as good as him, who she could talk to about anything and everything.

Well almost. There were still some things she'd never told him that had happened. They were buried in the past though and she'd moved on or so she thought…until they'd shown up to arrest her in L.A.

"C.J….we're going to file a motion to get the judge to stop the malingering going on from Jack's office on evidentiary issues but you know how this works…as a lawyer who worked for him."

She nodded.

"I do know most of his tricks and withholding evidence was one of them," she said, "I know he'll try it in this case if he's not doing it already."

Matt looked determined.

"We'll stop him in his tracks," he said, "The judge can force him to turn it over can't he?"

Rusty grimaced.

"Yes he can do that but it's not as easy as him ordering it," he said, "Jack's been DA for a while and he's very skilled at playing this game with every judge…most of them hung out with his daddy like your family did Matt."

That had been true. Bill Houston mostly had hung out with the fishing crowd including Jack's father. Roy hadn't been in town enough and he didn't have much use for politics. Bill's relationship with Jack's father had been one of the disagreements between the two brothers but in the scheme of things, not among the ones that had split them up.

"We need more than that test if it's inconclusive meaning that there's DNA but different reasons for it to be there."

C.J. wondered about that. Her necklace had turned up where it shouldn't so what about anything else? She didn't know at this point if she trusted anything including the DNA analysis to clear her of murder.

"We can do that by trying to find the real killer."

Both C.J. and Rusty looked at Matt.

"That's going to be tough," Rusty said, "Oh yeah there are other suspects…his wife Nadine for one…and others…maybe someone close to Jack even but there's no shred of evidence yet and we have to find it first."

"I'll do that," Matt said, "I'll do whatever it takes to get these charges dropped and I've got the skills."

C.J. knew that his investigative skills were damn sharp, he'd been introduced to that line of work through his military service in intelligence and only honed it through experience since and training too. Hoyt had arranged for him to take some in-house law enforcement training with his detectives. Matt knew most of it already but he picked up some valuable experience which he used to help the LAPD when it was needed.

"Houston…it could have been just about anyone," C.J. said, "Dylan didn't have many friends and a lot of enemies."

"We can start with Nadine," Matt said, "I knew her growing up…and she was married to the guy. Most cases, that's enough to commit murder when something goes sour."

Rusty nodded slightly.

"She was questioned but they didn't take a serious look at her."

"Probably didn't want to," Matt said, "Certainly not once they found the necklace."

C.J. had known that Nadine would attract attention. Yes, she'd been married to Dylan who she hooked up when she finally gave up on Matt and had run through a string of other men in town. It had been a volatile marriage and she knew how much…but some things couldn't be revealed and some of them had to do with Nadine. Not that she felt anything for the woman who'd accused her nonstop of sleeping with Dylan and trying to steal him from her. Nothing could have been further from the truth that she'd been having an affair with him.

"Look, I'm not sure it's her," she said, "It could be but Dylan…he was at Jack's office sometimes like I said and did some work for him. Maybe that got him killed."

Rusty just looked at her, his eyes wide.

"Oh god…do you really want to go down that road?"

Matt spoke up next.

"If it exonerates C.J. I'll go down any road."

"We go after Jack in any way," Rusty said, "We'll stir up more than a hornets' nest. We'll piss off every judge in the county too."

Matt shrugged.

"Then they'll be pissed off but they'll still have to do their jobs or they'll have to deal with me."

C.J. listened to him and she knew Matt meant what he said but there were things about life here and politics that he'd forgotten or he never understood. His daddy had been wrapped all up in it and had introduced Matt to it when he was old enough. Not that Matt embraced any of that himself; it just didn't fit his character. But if he'd never been tight with Jack in his crowd, he'd been friendly enough with him…until he found out what he'd done to her when she'd been his intern.

Rusty closed his folder.

"I'll finish my motion and then I'll get in touch with you."

They watched him go and as they walked out after paying their tab, they saw Nadine in a booth talking to Zach, who after all had been Dylan's close buddy. C.J. hoped neither would look in their direction but they seemed preoccupied with each other.

* * *

Roy was out in the porch making himself a sandwich and drinking some Scotch. The sun had begun to set and the air to cool.

"I'm making some chili later tonight," he said, "I'll need your help Matlock. I dug up one of Bill's old recipes."

Matt smiled.

"You know you got it. It'll be nice to eat outside unless it rains."

"That'll be good," he said, "You and C.J. going riding?"

Matt nodded.

"We both just heard that the DNA test has been delayed for some reason."

Roy just looked at him pointedly.

"We both know what's going on here," he said, "Jack doesn't want to release it yet."

"He might not want to release it at all but he's not going to get away with it."

Roy sighed, sipping his Scotch.

"All this for a man who was a disgrace when he was alive," he said, "Made a lot of people unhappy."

Matt sat down and looked at his hands.

"He did more than that to C.J.," he said, "I know something happened, that he killed something inside of her that I didn't even know about until we came back here…but she still won't tell me."

Roy paused.

"It might be too painful Matlock," he said, "Maybe she thinks it'll hurt you or you'll do something rash."

"I just wish she'd tell me," he said, "She knows I'd never judge her for anything."

Roy looked at his nephew, compassionately.

"Give her time…and space," he said, "Her life is upside right now and she has to deal with this murder case."

"We have to get it dropped Uncle Roy. There's no merit to it."

"I know…but it's got a life of its own now and it'll have to play out until it's finished."

Matt digested that understanding what his uncle meant. But he knew the answer to that already as he had when they first got here.

"I'm going to find the killer myself."


	29. Chapter 29

The riding reminded her of old times.

Back to when both of them had been children growing up on separate ranches not far from Roy's. They'd saddle up when they did their chores like splitting rail and rounding up strays in the far meadows and both of them competed in rodeo events as well when it came to town.

But they rode for fun as well and to get away from their lives, taking off for hours with lunches packed in their saddlebags. Up into the foothills nestled beneath the mountains, through the meadows in the valley. They had their favorite places to go and to find each other when one of them rode off alone to do some thinking.

She'd done a lot of that when dealing with her first lover after he took off, then Jack and then…she didn't even think it.

They had both moved to L.A. to start new lives including a new business and rode together on a ranch that Matt purchased from a retired actress. He'd paid her back by hunting down the man who had poisoned the young costar in her comeback.

Now they'd taken two of Roy's horses and just taken off together with a bottle of wine and some sandwiches.

It was a beautiful late afternoon, it had been hot earlier but started to cool off before they left the ranch. They rode up one of the foothills where there was a spring that came out of it which would merge with a river below them.

A good place to eat and talk.

They got off their horses and tied their reins loosely on a tree and then walked to a shaded area near the spring.

"You want some wine?"

She smiled at him.

"Of course…"

She'd spread the blanket while he got the food. There was ham and turkey and other good fixings including some of Roy's special sauce that he should just bottle up and sell. Some of his oatmeal cookies with a little extra kick made it in there as well. They ate heartedly and talked about olden times and rides from time ago.

A comfortable air between them, welcoming after all the tension since her arrest. Soon enough they both ended up lying on the blanket, her resting in his arms a place she very much liked to be.

She knew they'd kiss and she'd totally succumb to all these feelings she'd buried for so long about him. She couldn't remember now all the reasons why but they didn't seem to matter…and that's what made her suddenly tense up.

Because they had to matter. She couldn't start anything with him…not with her whole life hanging over her head.

She could wind up spending most or all that was left in prison…away from the people she loved.

"Houston…."

He anticipated her resistance and didn't fight it.

"I don't know how to live my life when it feels like it's on hold."

He sighed, his hands still on her warming up her skin beneath her clothing.

"I know…"

"Do you really? I just…I could never say goodbye to you if we…"

She didn't need to finish. He got it and he kissed her on the forehead for it then looked straight into her eyes. Damn, he had such beautiful brown ones, the kind that could sear inside a woman's soul in one instant. She knew from experience how good they were at getting a woman naked in more ways than just her clothes.

"Who's saying goodbye C.J.? You know I'd never let anything happen to you. We're going to get through this and then we're going home."

_Home._ That word sounded awfully good to her. She'd taken it for granted the great life they'd built up for themselves in L.A.

She sighed.

"I don't know that…and it's not about you, it's about Jack and how determined he is to nail me on murder charges."

"He's not going to get his way."

"He's going to give it all he has…I complained against him Houston and it nearly cost him everything…even his daddy's plans for him. Now it's payback time."

"He's not getting away with it," Matt said, "and we'll find out who really killed Dylan."

She snuggled against him.

"It's not like I didn't want to do that," she said, "There were times I wanted him dead."

He didn't say anything in response. She knew he had gotten bits and pieces of what had happened with her and Dylan when he'd been out of town. But not the whole story.

Some things you just didn't talk about after all.

"Maybe I think the reason why I didn't kill him myself is that I didn't have the chance."

"C.J…"

"No…I did want to…I didn't like Nadine but he was hitting her Houston and he could have killed her."

"She didn't report him, but I can guess why."

She thought about it a moment.

"She depended so much on him. She always did with men…even you."

"She tried…and I suppose I helped her. I had this thing about rescuing my girlfriends first or so I heard."

Ouch, she thought remembering some of their arguments both past and even in the present…including about Elizabeth the ultimate damsel in distress. But then again, the only woman he slept with who helped him first had been Nurse Erin and she'd nearly loved him to death.

"Houston…you like helping people, nothing wrong with that."

He sighed.

"I wished I'd been there when you had to deal with him."

"Houston…I'm okay. I've had a lot of time to deal with what happened," she said, "and we had a pretty rough patch we had to work through."

"I wish that hadn't happened either."

She stroked his cheek, nursing the stubble on his jawline.

"No point in going back…what's important is the here and now and that we're together."

He kissed her again and she tingled all the way to her toes as clichéd as that sounded. His hands stroked her sides and she soon found herself lying on top of him.

She kissed him back matching his ardor. Until…

"Houston…"

"Yeah…"

She didn't move away from him. She didn't know how to explain any more to him than that…the future scared her right now.

Right now she wanted so much to forget about all that. He made it almost too easy.

"I wish I could forget but I can't…and sometimes I feel like it's all coming back at once…"

"What?"

She looked down at his face.

"The past."


End file.
